NORFOLK, Va. — Attorney General Todd Blanche left open Thursday the possibility that the Justice Department would seek to block states from certifying votes in the midterm elections, although Blanche insisted he did not intend to “inappropriately interfere in the election.”
NBC News reported this week that the Justice Department was considering more election litigation against states, following a lawsuit against California to force state officials to examine 18,000 registered voters who the DOJ suspected were noncitizens seeking to vote fraudulently. California conducts mail-in elections and sends out ballots automatically.
Seven other states and Washington, D.C., also do so: Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington. Mail-in voting has often been the target of President Donald Trump’s voter fraud claims, which have intensified ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, even as he uses that voting method to cast ballots in Florida.
The legal threats come amid a broader push by the Trump administration to focus on what voting experts say is a relatively rare phenomenon of non-citizen voting.
The Justice Department’s role in U.S. elections is limited by law, allowing it primarily to protect civil rights and prosecute individuals who violate election law.
Although individuals and candidates can sue to challenge ballots or election results, no U.S. law authorizes the Department of Justice to challenge ballots or delay certification. American elections are run by state and local officials, who are responsible for certifying the results.
On Thursday, Blanche was asked if he could rule out any action by the Justice Department that might seek to delay the counting of ballots.
“It is not the intention of the DOJ, and it is never our intention, to inappropriately interfere with the election or the state confirmation or certification process,” he told reporters before boarding a plane.
Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to Norfolk on Thursday for a news conference to announce racketeering charges against an 82-year-old Virginia state senator.
Blanche said there could be a “doomsday” scenario in which the Justice Department seeks to become involved in the certification process of state and local election officials.
“To say there’s no circumstance where we would do that…of course I’m not going to say that,” he said. “But do I plan my days around the election so that I’m in a place where I can’t certify? Of course not.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, responded to Blanche’s comments, saying Senate Democrats “have been preparing for this for months and will be ready for anything” the Trump administration tries.
“As Trump and his cronies attempt to steal this election, we fight them at every turn,” Schumer posted on X. “Our elections should always belong to the voters, not Donald Trump.”
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