DOJ Voting Section
The DOJ Voting Section is the federal unit responsible for enforcing the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act. Between January and May 2025, the section's career leadership was removed and replaced with personnel from the nonprofit election-integrity litigation ecosystem, and its enforcement priority shifted from minority voting access to voter roll maintenance and fraud prosecution.
The Voting Section of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division is the federal unit historically responsible for enforcing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), and related election statutes. Under the Trump administration beginning in 2025, the section underwent a systematic personnel restructuring: its chief, Tamar Hagler, was removed; all seven top career managers were reassigned to a complaint adjudication office or departed; and roughly 250 Civil Rights Division attorneys — approximately 70 percent — left the division 1. According to watchdog reporting compiled in Finding #6689, by May 2025 the section had fewer than six attorneys. Analysis of the section's stated priorities indicates its mission was reoriented by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon from minority voting rights protection to election fraud prosecution 2.
Replacement personnel were drawn from outside the traditional career pipeline. Maureen Riordan, who had served as litigation counsel at the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) from 2021, was installed as Acting Chief in May 2025; according to records reviewed in Finding #6611, PILF simultaneously copied her and Dhillon on enforcement letters to four states. Riordan departed by January 2026 and was succeeded by Eric Neff, a former Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who had been placed on administrative leave after prosecuting a county elections vendor based on True the Vote evidence; that prosecution was dismissed within six weeks and the county paid a five-million-dollar settlement 1. Additional new hires included Christopher J. Gardner, who had participated in the Georgia fake-electors legal effort under John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro, and Megan Frederick, a former project manager for the Election Integrity Network founded by Cleta Mitchell 1.
Beginning September 16, 2025, the reconstituted section filed NVRA lawsuits against 29 states and the District of Columbia in seven waves through February 2026, seeking production of unredacted voter registration records including Social Security and driver's license numbers 3. Review of available records indicates the section also distributed confidential memoranda of understanding to over twelve states proposing a forty-five-day voter purge mechanism tied to federal review; Texas and Alaska signed, while Colorado and Wisconsin publicly rejected the terms 4. Concurrently, the section confirmed it was sharing state voter roll data with the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE program, which was upgraded from single-name to bulk-search capability, enabling federal scanning of millions of registrations 5.
Personnel Transformation and the PILF Revolving Door
The structural change to the Voting Section was accomplished through personnel, not legislation. Between January and May 2025, chief Tamar Hagler was removed and five senior managers were reassigned to the complaint adjudication office; a sixth was transferred to an antisemitism task force; a seventh retired rather than accept reassignment. Most supervisors departed 1. Review of watchdog records indicates that by May 2025, approximately three attorneys remained 4.
The incoming leadership carried direct institutional ties to organizations that had litigated against the section's historical enforcement posture. Maureen Riordan served as litigation counsel at Public Interest Legal Foundation from 2021 until approximately June 2025, then moved directly into the Acting Chief role. According to records reviewed in Finding #6611, during her tenure at DOJ, PILF continued sending voter roll demand letters to state election officials — copies addressed to both Riordan at the Voting Section and to Dhillon — in Maine, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. This arrangement created a documented channel from nonprofit demand letter to federal enforcement office.
Eric Neff, who replaced Riordan by December 2025, had no federal election law experience. His prosecutorial background included the 2022 Konnech case in Los Angeles, in which he charged a county elections software vendor based on a tip from True the Vote's Gregg Phillips, withheld the True the Vote connection from supervisors, and saw the charges dismissed in six weeks after the county paid a five-million-dollar settlement. He was placed on administrative leave; he filed a tort claim in April 2024. He had also written articles on Dominion Voting Systems for RedState in September and October 2024 and briefly represented election conspiracy theorist Patrick Byrne 1. Christopher Gardner arrived having worked on overturn-the-election litigation in Georgia alongside John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro. Megan Frederick joined from the Cleta Mitchell-founded Election Integrity Network, where she had managed the Only Citizens Vote Coalition 1.
The revolving door operated in both directions across a longer timeline. J. Christian Adams, hired into the Voting Section by Bradley Schlozman in 2005, left in 2010 to found PILF. Robert Popper served as Voting Section deputy chief for eight years before joining Judicial Watch as election law director in 2013. Christopher Coates, a career Voting Section head, also moved to Judicial Watch. According to records reviewed in Finding #6611, Christy McCormick served as a Voting Section trial attorney from 2006 to 2014 before appointment to the Election Assistance Commission. Analysis of these personnel movements indicates this multi-decade rotation concentrated institutional knowledge of NVRA enforcement mechanics — specifically what the government can compel states to do — in private organizations that then applied that knowledge in litigation against states 6.
DOJ Voting Section
Thirty-State Voter Roll Litigation Campaign
The section's primary enforcement output under the new leadership was a coordinated series of NVRA lawsuits seeking unredacted voter registration databases. Wave 1 (September 16–25, 2025): California, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania. Wave 2 (December 1–2): Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington. Wave 3 (December 11): Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada. Wave 4 (December 18): District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin. Wave 5 (January 6, 2026): Arizona, Connecticut. Wave 6 (January 16): Virginia. Wave 7 (February 26): Kentucky, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Utah 3.
Review of court filings indicates the complaints exhibited patterns atypical of federal litigation: misspelled attorney names, draft comments left visible in text, incorrect court citations, and missing summonses. According to records reviewed in Finding #6689, cases in California, Oregon, Michigan, and Georgia were dismissed for filing in the wrong court. The section simultaneously offered states confidential memoranda of understanding proposing that voters flagged as ineligible through federal review be purged within forty-five days. Texas and Alaska signed; Colorado and Wisconsin publicly rejected the terms. Former DOJ attorneys characterized the MOU program as effectively creating a national voter roll under federal control 5.
Analysis of enforcement patterns indicates the litigation strategy closely mirrored the NVRA enforcement approach developed by Judicial Watch's Robert Popper, who spent eight years as Voting Section deputy chief before designing Judicial Watch's voter roll cleanup litigation that removed more than five million names from rolls 6. Records indicate the DOJ filed a statement of interest in support of Judicial Watch in an Oregon NVRA case in June 2025 — in the same wave of states it was separately suing 6. According to Finding #6618, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton stated publicly that the Trump DOJ was "attempting to follow Judicial Watch's lead."
DHS Data Sharing and National Voter Roll Infrastructure
Parallel to the litigation campaign, the section confirmed it was sharing voter registration data obtained from states with the Department of Homeland Security for noncitizen identification purposes. The DHS SAVE program — which previously performed single-name immigration status checks — was upgraded to bulk-search capability, enabling it to scan millions of registrations simultaneously 5. The September 12, 2025 confirmation came as the MOUs to states included provisions for federal review of flagged registrants.
DHS was also separately investigating naturalized U.S. citizens who may have registered to vote before their naturalization dates were finalized, a population subject to different legal standards than non-citizen registrants 5. Former DOJ attorneys warned the combined effect — bulk data sharing, bulk SAVE searches, and forty-five-day purge MOUs — constituted functional construction of a national voter roll under federal administrative control without statutory authorization 5.
The Broader Election Enforcement Network
Analysis of personnel connections identifies the Voting Section's current staff and leadership as one node in a network of organizations that have coordinated election enforcement activity for over two decades 6. This analysis maps approximately fifteen to twenty individuals who have rotated between government positions and at least seven private organizations: PILF (J. Christian Adams as president; board including Hans von Spakovsky, Ken Blackwell, John Eastman, and Cleta Mitchell as chair); Judicial Watch election law project (Robert Popper); Election Integrity Network (Mitchell, Bridget Toloczko); Heritage Foundation/AAF Meese Institute voter fraud database (von Spakovsky); Honest Elections Project (Jason Snead, former Heritage); America First Policy Institute (Blackwell); and the Conservative Partnership Institute.
According to records reviewed in Finding #6609, five of twelve members of Trump's 2017 Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity remain active in enforcement infrastructure as of early 2026: Kris Kobach (Kansas AG and RAGA chair), von Spakovsky (AAF), Adams (PILF), Blackwell (AFPI), and Christy McCormick (Election Assistance Commission). The commission disbanded January 3, 2018. Analysis of network connections indicates Mitchell, whose involvement in the January 6, 2021 period included participation in the Trump-Raffensperger call, chairs PILF's board while simultaneously founding EIN and serving as a fellow at CPI 6.
The network's connective tissue runs through PILF's board, 2017 Commission alumni relationships, and EIN membership. Analysis of these overlapping affiliations indicates Cleta Mitchell functions as a structural bridge across PILF, EIN, the FAIR Elections Fund, and CPI. Von Spakovsky bridges DOJ institutional history, Heritage/AAF policy infrastructure, and PILF board governance. Analysis of these affiliations indicates both individuals appear in the personnel backgrounds of the Voting Section's current staff: Frederick came from Mitchell's EIN; Riordan came from PILF where von Spakovsky sits on the board 6.
DOJ Voting Section
Historical Context: Schlozman Precedent and Career Staff Removal
The 2025 restructuring was not without precedent. During the George W. Bush administration, Bradley Schlozman served as Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and later as a Voting Section official. According to records reviewed in Finding #6611, a 2008 Justice Department Inspector General report found Schlozman had made hiring decisions based on political affiliation, including the 2005 hiring of J. Christian Adams. That report documented a pattern of preferring conservative applicants and screening out those with civil rights advocacy backgrounds.
The 2025 restructuring differed in scale and speed. The entire career management structure of the Voting Section was eliminated within the first four months of the administration, and over two hundred former Civil Rights Division attorneys signed a letter alleging a coordinated effort to expel career staff 1. The replacement of the section's litigation focus — from VRA enforcement to voter roll maintenance and fraud prosecution — was accomplished through the combination of personnel removal, reassignment of remaining career attorneys, and direct hiring from organizations that had previously litigated against the section's enforcement priorities 1.
All Connections
8 total
All Connections
8 totalBondi voter roll demands operationalized through DOJ Voting Section shift under Harmeet Dhillon
PILF data cited in DOJ letter to PA SOS Aug 2025; DOJ filed amicus for PILF in Maine case; Riordan revolving door
AAG Civil Rights Division, oversees Voting Section since April 2025
Acting Chief of DOJ Voting Section, replaced Maureen Riordan Dec 2025
Trial Attorney, DOJ Voting Section, hired by Dec 2025
Trial Attorney, DOJ Voting Section, hired by Dec 2025
DOJ Voting Section attorney, hired by Dec 2025
Counsel on WI voter rolls case, appeared Feb 2026
All Findings
12 total
All Findings
12 totalrelationship (2)
DOJ Voting Section alumni revolving door network: At least 7 former Voting Section attorneys now occupy positions in conservative election enforcement infrastructure. (1) J. Christian Adams (DOJ 2005-2010, hired by Schlozman) -> PILF president. (2) Hans von Spakovsky (DOJ CRD 2002-2005) -> Heritage -> AAF Meese Institute. (3) Maureen Riordan (DOJ 2000-2017) -> PILF litigation counsel 2021 -> DOJ Acting Chief May 2025 -> departed Jan 2026. (4) Robert Popper (DOJ Voting Section deputy chief, 8 years) -> Judicial Watch election law director since 2013. (5) Christopher Coates (DOJ career, head of Voting Section 2007) -> Judicial Watch. (6) Christy McCormick (DOJ 2006-2014) -> EAC Commissioner. (7) Jason Snead (Heritage/Meese Center 10 years) -> Honest Elections Project exec director. New hires rotating in: Christopher Gardner (fake electors scheme) and Megan Frederick (EIN/Only Citizens Vote Coalition) now DOJ Voting Section attorneys.
This revolving door operates in both directions: alumni go from DOJ to conservative nonprofits (Adams, Popper, Coates -> PILF, Judicial Watch), then return to DOJ under Trump (Riordan PILF->DOJ 2025). New hires come from conservative election orgs directly into DOJ (Frederick from EIN, Gardner from Trump campaign legal). The pattern creates a closed loop where the same individuals cycle between government enforcement and private advocacy, carrying institutional knowledge and networks between sectors.
Election enforcement organizational map (March 2026): The DOJ Voting Section alumni network operates through 7+ organizations. DOJ Voting Section (Neff, Gardner, Frederick, Bennett) - now voter fraud prosecution. PILF (Adams, board: Mitchell, von Spakovsky, Eastman, Blackwell) - voter roll litigation. Judicial Watch (Popper) - NVRA enforcement/voter roll cleanup. Election Integrity Network (Mitchell, Toloczko) - grassroots coordination. Heritage voter fraud database (now migrating to AAF with von Spakovsky). Honest Elections Project (Snead, ex-Heritage) - model legislation via ALEC. AFPI (Blackwell) - policy. FAIR Elections Fund/Only Citizens Vote Coalition (Mitchell, Frederick) - proof-of-citizenship advocacy. DHS Election Integrity (Heather Honey, FAIR board VP) - government enforcement. EAC (McCormick) - federal election administration. All interconnected through PILF board, 2017 Commission alumni, and EIN membership.
This is a single network operating across government, nonprofit, and think-tank sectors. Key overlap nodes: (1) Cleta Mitchell - PILF board chair + EIN founder + FAIR president + CPI fellow + Trump Raffensperger call. (2) Von Spakovsky - DOJ alumnus + PILF board + Heritage/AAF + 2017 Commission + Project 2025. (3) Ken Blackwell - PILF board + AFPI election chair + FRC + 2017 Commission. (4) J. Christian Adams - DOJ Schlozman hire + PILF president + 2017 Commission + USCCR. The organizational chart disguises what is functionally a coordinated effort by roughly 15-20 individuals who have worked together for 20+ years, rotating between government and private sector to pursue voter fraud enforcement priorities.
legal (2)
DOJ sued 29 states + DC for voter registration rolls (Sep 2025-Feb 2026) in escalating waves: Wave 1 (Sep 16-25): CA, ME, MI, MN, NH, NY, OR, PA; Wave 2 (Dec 1-2): DE, MD, NM, RI, VT, WA; Wave 3 (Dec 11): CO, HI, MA, NV; Wave 4 (Dec 18): DC, GA, IL, WI; Wave 5 (Jan 6): AZ, CT; Wave 6 (Jan 16): VA; Wave 7 (Feb 26): KY, NJ, OK, UT
DOJ Voting Section gutted from 30 career attorneys to ~3, then restaffed with political hires tied to 2020 election denial — now leading 30-state voter roll litigation campaign
Timeline: Jan 2025 — Voting Section had ~30 career attorneys. Early 2025 — Section chief and 5 managers reassigned to complaint adjudication office; another manager to antisemitism task force; one retired. Most supervisors left rather than accept reassignments. By May 2025 — only ~3 attorneys remained (per Justice Connection watchdog). Summer-Fall 2025 — Maureen Riordan (career DOJ 2000-2017, then PILF litigation counsel, Heritage/CPI connections) installed as Acting Chief. New political hires arrive: Eric Neff (CA), Christopher Gardner (GA), Brittany Bennett (GA), Megan Frederick (WI). Dec 2025 — Neff replaces Riordan as Acting Chief. Jan 2026 — Riordan departs. Feb 2026 — Joseph Voiland (WI) joins on WI case. Campaign: DOJ has sued 30 states/DC seeking unredacted voter rolls with SSN/DL numbers. Cases dismissed in CA, OR, MI, GA (wrong court). Filings riddled with errors: misspelled attorney names, draft comments left visible, wrong court citations, missing summonses. DOJ also offered confidential MOUs to states proposing 45-day voter purge mechanism — TX and AK signed; CO and WI rejected publicly.
intelligence (4)
DOJ confirmed sharing state voter roll data with DHS for noncitizen identification. DHS SAVE program upgraded from single-name to bulk searches enabling scanning of millions of registrations. DOJ sent confidential MOUs to 12+ states requiring removal of any voters flagged as ineligible by federal review. Former DOJ lawyers warn this effectively creates a national voter roll under federal control. DHS also investigating naturalized US citizens who may have registered before naturalization.
DOJ Civil Rights Division Voting Section has shifted mission under AAG Harmeet Dhillon. Dropped Biden-era voting rights lawsuits. Now prioritizes searching for voter fraud. Election Threats Task Force future uncertain. DOJ requesting voter registration lists from 9+ states ahead of 2026 midterms. Noncitizen voter prosecution slowed by lack of evidence.
Full roster of Trump 2017 PACEI with current positions: 5 of 12 members remain active in election enforcement. Kobach (KS AG, RAGA chair), von Spakovsky (AAF Meese Institute), Adams (PILF president), Blackwell (FRC/AFPI election chair), McCormick (EAC commissioner, ex-DOJ Voting Section). Retired: Lawson, Gardner, Dunlap, Rhodes, King. Deceased: Dunn. Resigned: Borunda.
Commission disbanded Jan 3 2018. 5 active members now occupy: AG enforcement (Kobach), nonprofit litigation (Adams/PILF), federal election commission (McCormick/EAC), think-tank policy (von Spakovsky/AAF, Blackwell/FRC+AFPI). McCormick notably a DOJ Voting Section trial attorney 2006-2014 before EAC appointment.
DOJ Voting Section gutted 2025: Down from ~30 attorneys to ~6. All 7 top career managers gone by April 2025. 5 reassigned to complaint adjudication office. Chief Tamar Hagler removed. 250 CRD lawyers (70%) departed. New staff includes: Acting Chief Eric Neff (ex-LA prosecutor, True the Vote collaborator, placed on admin leave, M Konnech settlement), attorneys Christopher Gardner (Georgia fake electors plot participant, worked with Eastman/Chesebro), Megan Frederick (EIN project manager, Only Citizens Vote Coalition), Brittany Bennett. Mission rewritten by AAG Harmeet Dhillon from voting rights protection to voter fraud prosecution.
The replacement staff has no traditional voting rights enforcement experience. Neff's background is criminal prosecution and election conspiracy media (RedState). Gardner's is overturn-the-election litigation. Frederick's is voter roll challenge activism through Mitchell's EIN network. The section's historical function - protecting minority voting rights under the VRA - has been effectively abandoned and replaced with a voter fraud hunting mission. Career staff exodus was driven by forced reassignments, mission change, and hostile work environment.
unknown (4)
Complete personnel gutting of Voting Section under Dhillon
Voting Section started Jan 2025 with ~30 attorneys. By May 2025, ~70% of Civil Rights Division lawyers (250 of ~350) had left. By late 2025, Voting Section estimated at just 3 career lawyers remaining. Seven section chiefs departed across Civil Rights Division. Leadership timeline: (1) Career chiefs reassigned to FOIA/complaint adjudication offices early 2025. (2) Maureen Riordan (ex-PILF) installed as Acting Chief May 2025. (3) Riordan departed by Jan 27 2026 (disclosed in court filing). (4) Eric Neff (election conspiracist ties) replaced her as Acting Chief late 2025. New political hires with election denial backgrounds: Brittany Bennett (GA GOP counsel, pushed Dominion machine ban in DeKalb County 2024), Christopher Gardner (worked with Eastman/Chesebro/Mitchell on GA fake electors plot), Megan Frederick (Project Manager for Only Citizens Vote Coalition under Cleta Mitchell's Fair Elections Fund, part of Trump 2020 WI ballot challenge attempting to throw out 200K+ ballots). These three now lead DOJ voter roll lawsuits.
Biden-era voting rights cases systematically dropped
AG Bondi ordered dismissal of all active Voting Section cases. Specific dropped cases: (1) Houston County GA at-large elections (filed Jan 16 2025, dismissed March 24 2025) - alleged dilution of Black voting power via at-large system. (2) Georgia SB 202 (voter suppression law) - DOJ had argued disproportionate effect on Black voters and intentional discrimination. (3) Texas congressional and state legislative redistricting maps - DOJ attorney told judges before trial that government wanted to dismiss all claims alleging maps dilute Black/Latino voting strength. (4) Virginia voter purge case (dismissed Jan 28 2025) - despite litigation revealing naturalized citizens erroneously removed, court had ordered restoration of 1600 improperly purged voters. These dismissals represent abandonment of VRA Section 2 enforcement on behalf of minority voters.
DOJ voter roll MOU program and lawsuits against 22+ states
Since May 2025, DOJ demanded full unredacted voter rolls (including SSN, driver license numbers) from 44+ states. When states refused, DOJ sued. By Jan 2026, lawsuits filed against 22 jurisdictions including GA, WI, IL, DC, CA, MI, MN, NY, NH, PA, DE, MD, NM, RI, VT, WA. DOJ also created confidential MOU framework: states provide voter rolls, DOJ analyzes for 'insufficiencies/anomalies', states must 'clean' rolls within 45 days. 11 Republican-led states expressed willingness: AL, MS, MO, MT, NE, SC, SD, TX, TN, UT, VA. CO and WI publicly rejected and released MOU text. CA federal judge (David O. Carter) dismissed DOJ's lawsuit Jan 15 2026, ruling demands violated federal privacy laws. Eric Neff identified the compliant states in federal court hearing Dec 2025. DNC warned compliant states may have violated federal law.
Voting Section new hires all connected to election denial network
New Voting Section staff form a cohesive network linked to 2020 election challenges and Cleta Mitchell's anti-voting infrastructure. Christopher Gardner: GA-based GOP attorney who worked with Mitchell, Eastman, and Chesebro on GA fake electors plot; advised Republicans on casting false electoral votes; represented Fulton County Republican Party in 2024; now handles DOJ cases targeting GA election records. Brittany Bennett: GA attorney who filed 2024 brief for GA GOP supporting DeKalb County suit to ban Dominion voting machines; now signed DOJ complaints against 8 states plus Fulton County ballot demand. Megan Frederick: Project Manager for Only Citizens Vote Coalition (part of Mitchell's Fair Elections Fund); worked as GOP lawyer in 2020 WI election, part of Trump effort to throw out 200K+ ballots; now leads DOJ lawsuit demanding DC voter rolls. All three now sign federal lawsuits demanding state voter data. Mitchell connection runs through all: Gardner worked directly with her, Frederick worked in her organization.