LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The Department of Justice announced Friday morning that they have filed federal lawsuits against four states, including Nevada, for failure to produce statewide voter registration lists upon request.
These recent filings against Nevada, Colorado, Hawaii, and Massachusetts brings the number of states being sued by the DOJ to 18.
“States have the statutory duty to preserve and protect their constituents from vote dilution,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “At this Department of Justice, we will not permit states to jeopardize the integrity and effectiveness of elections by refusing to abide by our federal elections laws. If states will not fulfill their duty to protect the integrity of the ballot, we will.”
The DOJ further explains that the Attorney General is utilizing her role of enforcing the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 as legal precedents in the lawsuit.
Governor Lombardo, a Republican, has stated multiple times that he will comply with other federal orders, including submitting SNAP benefit data and authorizing the National Guard to assist ICE in Nevada prisons.
The White House and Lombardo have also disagreed about Nevada’s designation as a “sanctuary state,” which Lombardo and other Las Vegas leaders have firmly denied having such protections. The Department of Homeland Security has listed Nevada as a “sanctuary state” and Las Vegas as a “sanctuary city” on two separate occasions. Those lists have since been removed from the government website.
However, Nevada’s Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, a Democrat, stated in September that he was concerned about how voter data would be safeguarded by the administration. He also announced and launched a new election transparency website in October.
Aguilar released a statement Friday afternoon calling the Justice Department’s demands an attempt at intimidation by the federal government.
“While these requests may seem like normal oversight, the federal government is using its power to try to intimidate states and influence how states administer elections ahead of the 2026 cycle,” Aguilar said. “The Constitution makes it clear: elections are run by the states. Nevada will continue to run safe, secure and accessible elections and I’ll always stand up for the rights of our voters.”
FOX5 has reached out to the Governor’s Office for a response to this latest lawsuit and will update this article accordingly.
Nevada is one of multiple states that Trump has accused without evidence of swinging the 2020 election against him. When investigated in 2021, the then-Secretary of State Barbara Cegaske, a Republican, said her office could not find any evidence of voter fraud.
This is a developing story, check back later for updates.
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