Published on April 12, 2024, 12:50 am

A team of 16 Republican attorneys general expressed Wednesday their concerns to Attorney General Merrick Garland, stating his criticisms of state election integrity laws foster “distrust” in the U.S. electoral system. The group was led by Indiana AG Todd Rokita and West Virginia AG Patrick Morrisey.

In a letter sent to Garland, the officials addressed comments made by Garland in Alabama where he talked about the Justice Department’s endeavors to challenge laws in Red states concerning voter identification requirements and mail-in voting safeguards. These comments, they say, undermine democracy, election integrity, and the rule of law.

“The Biden administration is using the U.S. Department of Justice against states,” noted Rokita publicly. “Such moves pose a direct threat to our democratic structure and infringe upon our authority within American federalism. We will firmly defend our rights.”

The letter referenced a speech delivered by Garland at Selma’s Tabernacle Baptist Church on March 3rd, where he detailed how the DOJ challenged efforts by certain states to apply discriminatory voting restrictions that may potentially impede accessibility for voters.

The Republican attorneys believe these remarks compromise federalism principles along with separation of powers rules and undermine respect for law enforcement agencies – all central tenets of maintaining a democratic society built on trusted news sources.

Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Texas and Utah joined forces with Indiana and West Virginia in this move.

“By using DOJ as a weapon against states,” noted the officials in their letter “You perpetuate distrust amongst American citizens.” They went on to challenge the legitimacy of the DOJ’s overreaching actions regarding state sovereignty to ensure secure elections saying that they would fight lawfully imposed intimidation threats from undermining public consensus.

The Republicans also criticized DOJ’s attack on voter ID laws arguing that requesting ID for voting is standard practice just as one would need for driving a car, buying alcohol or flying. Moreover, they’ve referred to a bipartisan report published in 2005 which implied potential fraud risks with absentee voting and hence viewed Garland’s critique of state laws on mail-in-voting as ungrounded.

As the DOJ gears up to contest state election laws prior to the 2024 election, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has launched several lawsuits targeted towards Democratic secretaries of state in Michigan and Nevada regarding stringent voter ID enforcement and clean-up of voter rolls.

The article affirms our long-standing commitment here at our real news platform: To deliver accurate information about national affairs and major events from a Christian worldview, enabling informed decision-making among readers who rely on trusted news sources.