NORFOLK, Va. — Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday left open the possibility that the Justice Department could seek to block states from certifying votes in the midterm elections, though he said it wasn’t his intention to “improperly interfere with elections.”
NBC News reported this week that the Justice Department is weighing more election-related litigation against states after it sued California to compel state officials to review 18,000 registered voters it suspected could be noncitizens seeking to cast fraudulent ballots. California has an all-mail election and sends out ballots automatically.
Blanche does not rule out DOJ post-election action
Washington, D.C., and seven other states do, too: Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington. Mail voting has frequently been a target for President Donald Trump’s voter fraud claims, which have escalated ahead of the 2026 midterms, even as he uses the voting method to cast his ballot in Florida.
On Thursday, Blanche was asked whether he could rule out any action by the Justice Department that could seek to delay the counting of ballots.
Blanche said there could be some “doomsday” scenario in which it would seek to get involved.
“It is not DOJ’s intention to, and it’s never our intention to, improperly interfere with elections or the state confirmation process or certification process,” he told reporters before he boarded a plane.
Blanche’s comments come in the middle of a broader campaign by the Trump administration to zero in on what voting experts say is a relatively rare phenomenon of voting by noncitizens.
The Justice Department’s role in U.S. elections is limited by law, chiefly allowing it to safeguard civil rights and prosecute people who violate election law.
While private citizens and candidates can sue to challenge ballots or election results, no U.S. laws say the Justice Department can challenge ballots or delay certification. U.S. elections are run by state and local officials, who are charged with certifying results.
Blanche said he couldn’t say there were zero circumstances under which the Justice Department wouldn’t get involved. “Of course, I’m not going to say that,” he said. “But am I planning my days around the election to be somewhere to not certify? Of course not.”
Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to Norfolk for a news conference Thursday to announce racketeering charges against an 82-year-old Virginia state senator.
At that news conference, when he was pressed about the Justice Department’s litigation against states, Blanche said the Justice Department was “not trying to create chaos.” He said it was trying to alert officials to potential issues.
“I’m not trying to not have an election certified. Of course not,” Blanche said. “What we’re trying to do is guarantee to the American people that the only people that are voting are people that are eligible to vote.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reacted to Blanche’s comments, saying Senate Democrats “have been preparing for this for months and will be ready for whatever” the Trump administration tries.
“As Trump and his cronies attempt to steal this election, we are fighting them at every turn,” Schumer posted on X. “Our elections must always belong to the voters — not Donald Trump.”
