DOJ Review: Dead Registrants & Non-Citizens Found on Voter Rolls

Written by David E. Smith

A sweeping U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) review has uncovered over 260,000 deceased individuals still listed on voter rolls nationwide—along with thousands of non-citizens registered to vote in federal elections. Now, the DOJ is demanding that Illinois hand over its complete statewide voter-registration database, unredacted, as part of a broader push to enforce federal election-integrity laws. Some states are cooperating; others, including Illinois, are resisting. The stakes for 2026 could not be clearer.

Under Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, the DOJ has examined roughly 47.5 million voter records across nearly 30 states. The findings: more than 260,000 dead individuals still on the rolls, several thousand non-citizens illegally registered, and widespread noncompliance with federal transparency requirements. Dhillon described these findings as “pretty concerning”—a significant understatement. Every inaccurate registration is an open door for fraud, error, or manipulation. In an era when public trust in elections is already fragile, persistent voter-roll inaccuracies only make matters worse.

So far, the DOJ has launched 15 lawsuits against 14 states, including California twice, for refusing to provide required voter-roll data. States such as Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington were named in recent litigation. Others have quietly cooperated and begun cleanup efforts—which only underscores the seriousness of the problem.

Background

Earlier this year, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) on behalf of Carol Davis and Illinois Family Action, alleging that the state has failed to conduct the voter-roll maintenance required under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Jeanne Ives’ Breakthrough Ideas later joined the suit as a co-plaintiff. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The DOJ took the unusual step of intervening, effectively siding with Judicial Watch and affirming that Illinois has not met its legal obligations. The case, Judicial Watch, Inc. et al v. The Illinois State Board of Elections et al. (No. 1:24-cv-01867) challenges Illinois’ failure to properly maintain its voter rolls as required by the NVRA. The State’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit is currently pending in federal court before Judge Sara L. Ellis.

On July 28, the DOJ escalated further, demanding a complete, unredacted copy of Illinois’s statewide voter-registration list—including full names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s-license numbers, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers. Illinois provided a partially redacted version, the same dataset normally shared with political committees, but DOJ rejected it outright. According to federal officials, redactions violate the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and obstruct lawful federal oversight.

By early September, Illinois formally refused to comply, citing state privacy protections and concerns about data breaches. Yet Illinois’s resistance now places it squarely among states that have already been sued by DOJ for similar noncompliance. While Illinois has not yet been sued, it is clearly on the agency’s radar.

The broader context makes this standoff even more concerning: hundreds of thousands of dead voters nationwide, thousands of non-citizens illegally registered, and widespread failures among states to maintain accurate voter rolls. Dhillon put it plainly:

“Even one person voting who shouldn’t have voted is one too many.”

Maintaining accurate voter rolls is not optional; it is foundational to election integrity. When states refuse to clean up their lists—or refuse to let federal overseers verify accuracy—they undermine public trust and invite suspicion that the system can be manipulated.

For those of us who care about truth, transparency, and the rule of law, this moment is clarifying. Election integrity must be restored and defended, especially here in Illinois. Christians and civic-minded citizens cannot afford to be complacent. We are stewards of a constitutional republic—and stewardship requires vigilance. Whether the threat is bureaucratic negligence, political obstruction, or outright fraud, we must insist on clean, lawful, and transparent elections in Illinois and across America.