Justice Department demands Michigan county turn over 2024 ballots

Vote WatchJustice Department demands Michigan county turn over 2024 ballotsMichigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel dismissed the latest election inquiry from the Trump administration as “absurd” and “baseless.” Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon is asking a key county in Michigan for its 2024 ballots.Andrew Harnik / Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 19, 2026, 5:23 PM EDTBy Gary Grumbach and Raquel Coronell UribeThe Justice Department has demanded that Wayne County, Michigan, turn over all ballots from the November 2024 election, another escalation in the Trump administration’s voting inquiries. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.In a letter to the chief election official of Wayne County dated April 14, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon cited three convictions for election fraud and five lawsuits against the county that alleged election fraud. Dhillon gave the county 14 days to produce the requested documents, which included ballots, ballot receipts and ballot envelopes.Trump carried Michigan on his way to winning the presidency in 2024, though he lost solidly Democratic Wayne County, which is home to Detroit, by nearly 250,000 votes.Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, called the request “absurd” and “baseless” in a statement.“Once again, President Trump is weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to sabotage our democratic process and turn it into his own personal agency to interfere in state elections,” she wrote in a statement posted on X. “If this administration wants to bring this circus to our state, my office is prepared to protect the people’s right to vote.”Nessel said that the convictions cited by Dhillon proved that Michigan’s election safeguards were effective, adding that “the instances of voter fraud are rare and addressed.”“Using these prosecutions and recycling debunked 20...