DOJ orders Amore to preserve 2024 election records in ongoing voter data fight

Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore is facing another demand from the Trump administration to provide the state’s voter data, this time to preserve all documents related to the 2024 election.

In a Sept. 4 letter, the U.S. Department of Justice directed Amore not to destroy records from the 2024 election because he is “under investigation and ongoing litigation” over his compliance with federal election laws. 

“Your failure to preserve relevant data may constitute spoliation of evidence, which may subject you to civil and criminal sanctions,” Eric Neff, acting chief of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section, warned. “We trust that you will preserve for the duration of our investigation and any subsequent litigation all relevant documents.”

Amore has not responded to the DOJ’s letter as of Wednesday, Secretary of State office spokesperson Faith Chybowski confirmed to Rhode Island Current. She declined to comment further, citing the pending litigation. 

The DOJ’s request did not specify what Amore is under investigation for. Similar requests have gone out to 28 other states and the District of Columbia, the Associated Press reported Sept. 10.

Amore was sued by the Justice Department last December after he declined to give the Trump administration access to sensitive information in Rhode Island voter rolls. U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy dismissed the case in April, but the DOJ appealed on June 4. The complaint remains pending before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court in Boston.

Kiersten Pels, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice, said in an email Wednesday evening that the letter is “a standard litigation-hold notice” directly related to the ongoing voter roll lawsuit against the state. 

“It is not a new investigation,” she said. 

John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said the DOJ’s preservation demand goes far beyond the subject of last year’s lawsuit.

“This letter suddenly is about the 2024 documents related to the 2024 election, which is not part of that litigation in any way,” Marion said in an interview.

He said he suspects the DOJ sent the letter because the deadline for keeping the 2024 records was approaching, even though there had been no indication that state officials  planned to destroy them.

Federal law requires election officials to keep election records for 22 months after an election. That period was set to expire this month for November 2024 election records.

“The DOJ was smart with their timing,” Marion said.

Marion also characterized the letter as another example of a broader effort by the Trump administration to pressure election officials with repeated demands and threats.

Amore in July received a letter from the DOJ warning he could face criminal charges if the state fails to prevent noncitizens from voting in the upcoming midterm elections.