The Trump administration amped up the pressure on Minnesota to hand over voter data, with the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division sending a letter to Minnesota’s secretary of state demanding such records.

President Trump’s DOJ aims to stamp out alleged voting fraud, and this is one development among many in an effort to collect voter data from nearly every state. 

The push began in the summer, when the department sent letters to about 40 states demanding unredacted records about nonpublic voter data to ensure states complied with the National Voter Registration Act, which requires voter registration list maintenance.

Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Civil Rights Division, sent Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon the letter Friday, with a 15-day deadline. 

Minnesota is an outlier in voter registration. Under state law, a registered voter can “vouch” for up to eight other voters’ residential status on the day of voting.

The registered voter must accompany them to the polling place and sign an oath verifying their address, according to the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State.

As long as each vouched-for voter can prove residency, his or her ID can be a driver’s license, learner’s permit, passport, expired ID, military ID or Minnesota university or high school ID.

The intensified attention comes as Gov. Tim Walz’s administration is faced with social service fraud schemes that drained hundreds of millions of dollars, tied to the state’s Somali immigrant community.

The Justice Department alleges that states refused a legal request under the Civil Rights Act requiring that state officials make records available for “inspection, reproduction, and copying” to comply with the National Voter Registration Act and Help America Vote Act.

Back in September, the Civil Rights Division announced it would file federal lawsuits against California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania for failing to produce their statewide voter registration lists upon request.

“Clean voter rolls protect American citizens from voting fraud and abuse, and restore their confidence that their states’ elections are conducted properly, with integrity, and in compliance with the law,” Ms. Dhillon said when announcing lawsuits against the states.

In late December, Ms. Dhillon filed legal action against Minnesota officials, demanding voting records.

The department also announced federal lawsuits against three other states and the District of Columbia last month, bringing the nationwide total to 22.

“The law is clear: states need to give us this information, so we can do our duty to protect American citizens from vote dilution,” Ms. Dhillon said in the announcement. “Today’s filings show that regardless of which party is in charge of a particular state, the Department of Justice will firmly stand on the side of election integrity and transparency.”