Trump admin threatens red state's top elections official with criminal prosecution

As part of a hypothetical scenario in a made-up state, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson along with eight other panelists were asked what they would do if they were faced with a fictional president that asked for political favors in exchange for federal aid and not only pressured them to hand over private voter information, but also wanted to seize ballots before they were counted.

That was the premise of an episode of the PBS series “Breaking the Deadlock” titled: “How to Fix an Election” that was broadcast on Tuesday.

In the episode, Aaron Tang, a law professor at the UC Davis School of Law, moderated a panel that, alongside Henderson, included other prominent officials including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Texas congressman Rep. Dan Crenshaw, and businessman Mark Cuban.

Tang asked them to confront hypothetical dilemmas that put pressure on voting rights and elections. Henderson was given a scenario to hand over private voter information to the federal government in the name of preventing ineligible people from voting.

“First of all, there is no evidence that there is any sort of widespread voting by people who are ineligible,” Henderson said in the show. “And the federal government doesn’t have access to our voter files because the U.S. Constitution expressly reserves the right to states to choose the times, places and manner of elections.”

But that scenario isn’t far off from a reality Henderson and other state election officials are facing in real life. For months, President Donald Trump’s administration has been pressuring them to hand over sensitive and private voter information.

The same day the episode aired, Henderson said in a social media post she had received “another love letter” from the U.S. Department of Justice “sprinkled throughout with threats of criminal prosecution” for resisting the agency’s demands for private voter data.

“This is truly bizarre behavior by the federal agency that is supposed to be protecting civil rights,” Henderson wrote.

In February the Department of Justice filed lawsuits against Utah, alongside other states “for failure to produce their full voter registration lists upon request.”

For months, President Donald Trump’s administration has demanded that states provide copies of their voter lists, calling the information necessary for election integrity efforts. While some states have turned over lists that withhold sensitive personal data, most have declined to offer all the information on their lists while citing state and federal privacy laws that protect American’s personal data.

Henderson has said she is among those fighting to protect Utah voters’ protected information.

“Neither state nor federal law entitles the Department of Justice to collect private information on law-abiding American citizens,” Henderson has said in response to the DOJ lawsuit. “Utahns can be assured that my office will always follow the Constitution and the law, protect voters’ rights, and administer free and fair elections.”

A review by Henderson’s office has confirmed that noncitizen voting isn’t a widespread problem in the state. The issue has, however, remained a focal point among Republicans across the country.

The letter the Department of Justice sent on Tuesday cited portions of federal code that outline the duties of state and local elections officials, including maintaining elections records and taking action to ensure that only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote.

“Any election officer, including the chief election officer of the state, who knowingly retains noncitizens on the state’s (voter registration list) or facilitates noncitizens in receiving and casting ballots could be subject to criminal liability,” the letter says.

While Utah approved a law allowing the release of some voter information for a fee — including name, address, age range, party affiliation, and vote history — other personal information, like social security numbers, full birth dates and driver’s license numbers, remain “strictly private for all voters and may only be disclosed to government entities for election administration purposes,” according to the Utah lieutenant governor’s website

During the PBS episode, the panel discussed a made-up situation in which the exchange of those private voter files would result in quicker federal action that would prevent a dam from collapsing, potentially avoiding deaths.

Henderson called it a “tough situation” during the panel discussion.

“It’s definitely hard to see trade-offs for something that is imminent and much needed versus standing on principle and following the rule of law,” she said. “But I also say, if we don’t have the rule of law, we don’t have anything, we don’t have a country, we don’t have freedom, and if we’re willing to trade those things in the moment, then we’re willing to risk an awful lot for temporary gains.”

In a comment issued about the PBS episode, Henderson said she left the taping “with a renewed commitment to the principles that have shaped our country for the past 250 years and which are essential to preserving our free government for the next 250 years.”

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