Statement from Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights on DOJ's Letter to Illinois Election Officials
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 9, 2026
Contact:
Cate Bikales
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
cbikales@clccrul.org
Statement from Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights on DOJ's Letter to Illinois Election Officials
CHICAGO, IL, July 9, 2026: This week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to Illinois election officials threatening prosecution if state election officials knowingly allow noncitizens to cast ballots. This is the latest attempt in the DOJ’s long campaign to intimidate local election officials and sow doubt and fear about the security of elections despite there being no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting in our elections.
Ami Gandhi, director of the Midwest Voting Rights Program with Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, issued the following statement:
“The Department of Justice’s letter does not change what is already true – all eligible voters already attest to their citizenship under penalty of perjury when registering to vote, and there is no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting in our elections. Threatening state officials with criminal prosecution does not change those facts and is designed to intimidate state election officials to hand over sensitive voter data.
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights alongside our partners moved to intervene in the DOJ’s pending lawsuit demanding Illinois’ voter rolls because the DOJ has no right to this sensitive voter data that is protected by federal and state law. Requesting voter roll data is blatant federal overreach, threatens voter privacy, and could enable voter disenfranchisement. The DOJ has not been successful in weaponizing the justice system to obtain sensitive voter information in any of these lawsuits thus far.
We will not let the federal government pressure state election officials or put voters’ sensitive data at risk based on manufactured claims of fraud. We will continue to fight on behalf of all eligible voters to ensure they are able to participate in our democracy fully and fairly. We encourage any voters who need assistance or have questions to call the non-partisan Election Protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE and companion lines at 888-VE-Y-VOTA, 888-API-VOTE, and 844-YALLA-US.”
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