Justice Department gives Democrats its list of states that received federal election demands, as judge ordered

The Justice Department told a federal court in Washington on Friday, Oct. 30, that it had given Democratic Party plaintiffs a list of states in answer to a question the court ordered it to answer by noon. The notice in DSCC v. Trump, No. 1:26-cv-03674, says the government served the plaintiffs' lawyers with its "objections, responses, and a list of States" in response to the plaintiffs' Interrogatory No. 1. The list itself was not filed on the public docket.¹

Democracy Docket, which said it obtained the filing, reported that the government listed five states contacted since July 1 with demands about voters or ballots: the Department of Homeland Security wrote to California, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and the Justice Department wrote to California and Washington. The outlet reported that the government also said it had written to all states about their duty to keep voting records for 22 months after the election, and that the response does not give a total number of voters the government has questioned. Democracy Docket was founded by Marc Elias, whose firm, Elias Law Group, represents the plaintiffs.²³

The order

Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg partly granted the plaintiffs' request for fast-tracked discovery in a minute order Thursday, Oct. 29. He ordered the government to answer the interrogatory for July 1, 2026, to the present. The order gives the plaintiffs until Oct. 31 to file more on standing, the government until Nov. 1 to respond, and says the court will rule by Nov. 2. It adds that the government may end the process at any time by filing notice that it will not engage in the conduct the plaintiffs seek to block "in connection with the upcoming election."⁴

The Associated Press reported that Boasberg questioned at the hearing whether the plaintiffs have standing to sue, saying, "The harder question for me is your standing to do it."⁵

The parties

The plaintiffs are the DSCC, the DCCC, the Democratic Governors Association, the Nevada State Democratic Party, Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer, House Democratic leader Hakeem S. Jeffries and voter Erick Jose Jimenez. The defendants are President Donald Trump, the Justice Department, Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. The suit was filed Oct. 20.⁴

In their Oct. 26 motion for a temporary restraining order, the plaintiffs say the departments "have asserted the right to dictate how States administer their elections," including who stays on voter rolls, who gets a ballot and which ballots are counted. They argue the actions are not authorized by federal law and violate the 10th Amendment, and that the DHS lists behind them pose "an unacceptably high risk of disenfranchising U.S. citizens."³

In its Oct. 28 opposition, the government says it has "identified evidence that non-citizens may have cast, or may be imminently casting, votes" in violation of federal law, and that its letters to states "are not self-executing" because it would need a court order to compel any action. It argues the plaintiffs lack standing. The filing says DHS sent letters to California, Nevada and Pennsylvania on July 16 and that the Justice Department on Oct. 13 asked California and Los Angeles County to confirm the eligibility of more than 20,000 people it believes are highly likely noncitizens.⁶

What the records do not show

• The list of states and the government's objections were served on the plaintiffs, not filed with the court; SignalData has not seen them, and the five-state and all-state details come from Democracy Docket's report.
• The order covered only Interrogatory No. 1; the records do not show which states the departments intend to contact, as the plaintiffs' second interrogatory asks.⁷
• The records do not give a total number of voters the departments have questioned across all states.
• The court had not ruled on the motion for a temporary restraining order as of Friday afternoon.