Michigan officials push back on DOJ demand for ballots

Michigan officials are pushing back on the Justice Department’s demand that the state provide ballots and other elections materials from the Detroit area to prove that no fraud took place in the 2024 election.

Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, sent a letter on Tuesday to the chief election official for Wayne County, Mich., requesting that the clerk produce all ballots — including absentee and provisional — from the 2024 federal election, along with ballot receipts and ballot envelopes.

Dhillon cited past voter fraud cases from the county and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 as a basis for the request, and she threatened a court order if the county does not comply with the demands in a timely manner.

But Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, sent a letter on Friday forcefully rejecting Dhillon’s demand for election materials, saying she was “dismayed” to learn the senior DOJ official sent the request, which Nessel characterized as based on “conspiracy theories dating back to 2020.”

“The courts, our officials, and our legislature have all determined that these theories are baseless, and they certainly provide........

© The Hill