With Less than 100 Days Until the Midterm Elections, Shaheen Presses Trump Administration on Legal Deployment of Election Monitors, Prohibition of Mass Voter Purges

(Washington, DC) – With less than 100 days until November’s midterm elections, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is continuing her efforts to defend our nation’s election integrity in two recent letters she sent to Trump Administration officials, one to Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon and the other to Attorney General Blanche and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. “For years, President Trump has not been shy about undercutting public faith in our nation’s safe and secure election system,” said Senator Shaheen. “In response to this and with elections underway in many states across the country, I was proud to join many of my Senate colleagues in defense of our nation’s elections to ensure all American citizens have their voices heard at the ballot box.” Following an announcement by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the Trump Administration will deploy election monitors in New Hampshire, Senator Shaheen joined her Senate colleagues to demand DOJ comply with federal voting laws. In their letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon, the Senators cautioned against the misuse of any federal election monitors to target jurisdictions in a partisan manner or interfere with voting or state and local election officials’ administration of the voting process. While the Trump Administration’s DOJ has characterized their election monitoring efforts as “routine” and “nonpartisan,” Shaheen and her colleagues are concerned that monitors are being disproportionately assigned to jurisdictions in states led by Democrats. The Senators also noted that the announcement comes amid repeated efforts by President Trump to interfere with the local administration of free and fair elections, which underscores the importance of election monitors following the law by only observing elections. The Senators wrote, in part: “The election monitors program has been implemented under Democratic and Republican administrations alike and has largely operated without incident or controversy. It is important that American voters trust that the U.S. Department of Justice’s election monitors will focus only on their statutory ambit and will not target jurisdictions in a partisan manner; discourage voter participation or interfere with the voting process; or pressure, harass, or interfere with state and local election officials as they do their jobs.” They continued: “On July 7, 2026, Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Harmeet Dhillon announced that the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division will be sending election monitors to 15 jurisdictions in Arizona, Michigan, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Virginia during the 2026 primary election season. In the announcement, AAG Dhillon indicated that the program will be expanded for the general election. The announcement characterizes this effort as “routine” and “nonpartisan.” However, it would be remiss not to acknowledge concerns that monitors are being deployed disproportionately to jurisdictions in states governed by Democratic leaders or with Democratic chief election officials. Moreover, election monitors are being deployed in the context of President Trump’s ongoing threats to nationalize, militarize, and otherwise interfere with the conduct of free and fair elections.” The Senators concluded: “As demonstrated under both Democratic and Republican administrations, U.S. elections are safe, secure, and fair. The Department’s election monitors program must not be used to undermine that fact. Election monitors must carry out their responsibilities in a manner that respects and upholds voters’ rights, complies with the applicable legal requirements, and does not interfere with state and local election officials’ administration of the voting process.” The full text of the letter can be found HERE . Senator Shaheen was joined on the letter by Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Amy Klobhchar (D-MN), Tina Smith (D-MN), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Gary Peters (D-MI). Shaheen then joined many of her Senate colleagues in demanding the Trump Administration adhere to the National Voter Registration Act ’s (NVRA) “quiet period” that prohibits large-scale voter purges within 90 days of an election, pushing back against the Trump Administration’s ongoing voter suppression efforts. In a letter to Attorney General Blanche and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, Shaheen reminded the Trump Administration to adhere to the law and refrain from supporting, assisting or coercing states into conducting mass voter purges prior to the November midterm elections. This comes as the Trump Administration has demanded voter information from all 50 states, losing 21 lawsuits and counting in the process, while a separate court has barred it from misusing federal databases in illegal attempts to remove voters from state voter rolls. In July, President Trump and Secretary Mullin escalated their efforts to force states to purge voters ahead of the November general election in a presidential speech and subsequent DHS press conference. The letter copies the chief election officers for all 50 states. The Senators wrote, in part: “We are writing to remind you that any efforts directing states to conduct mass voter purges, including by using the deeply flawed Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to purge voter rolls, would violate the 90 day ‘quiet period’ mandated by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). Under the NVRA, election officials are supposed to complete any program for ‘systematically’ removing ineligible voters 90 days before Election Day. This statutory protection was included to protect eligible voters who may be (and in many cases have been) removed as part of state voter list maintenance activities.” They continued: “In various lawsuits, federal courts have ruled against states that attempted systemwide voter list removals during the ‘quiet period,’ including those made under the pretext of removing noncitizen voters. Outside the 90-day quiet period, voter list maintenance is an important function, but noncitizen voting remains extremely rare. Federal law addresses these incidents through criminal penalties, including financial penalties and imprisonment.” The Senators concluded: “We must re-emphasize that current use of the SAVE program for list maintenance is illegal, and efforts to coerce states to conduct mass voter purges during the ‘quiet period’ are also illegal under the NVRA, despite DOJ arguments to the contrary in recent court filings. The DOJ should also drop its litigation to obtain state voter rolls and its continued threats to prosecute election officials. As you know, DOJ has lost every federal case seeking to obtain states’ unredacted voter lists so far. We remain deeply opposed to the waste of taxpayer funds and attacks on state election officials involved with DOJ’s continued attempts to compel states to hand over unredacted voter rolls.” The full text of the letter can be found HERE . Shaheen was joined on the letter by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Mark Warner (D-VA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR). As the Trump Administration continues its efforts to make voting more difficult for American citizens ahead of November’s midterm elections, Shaheen has remained outspoken in protecting the vote of all Americans. Shaheen has demanded the United States Postal Service abandon its proposed rule to implement President Trump’s unconstitutional executive order to restrict voting by mail, and in March took to the Senate floor to voice her strong opposition to the partisan SAVE America Act , which would prevent millions of eligible voters from exercising their civic duty. Shaheen also continues to push back against efforts in the Granite State to restrict students’ voting access. Throughout her time in the Senate, Shaheen has fought to protect America’s electoral system, including with legislation protecting election workers and her continued support of the John R. Lewis Voting Advancement Act . Shaheen for years has also led the Democracy for All Amendment , a constitutional amendment that would protect election integrity by overturning the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC , which opened the door to a flood of corporate and dark money in American elections that have diminished the voice of voters. ###