Hawaii’s chief election officer has rebuffed an invitation by the U.S. Department of Justice to discuss, or receive assistance with, following federal law governing voter eligibility.
Scott Nago, who heads Hawaii’s Office of Elections, was among head election officers in every state who received a July 7 DOJ letter reminding them of federal election laws and pointing out that they faced possible criminal prosecution for violations that include knowingly retaining noncitizens on state voter registration lists.
The DOJ letter offered assistance to help the state comply with federal law, and asked for a response within five days informing DOJ how the state intends to ensure it is complying with election laws.
“We encourage you to contact us to discuss what steps your state should take to maintain clean voter lists as required by law,” the letter from DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said.
The letter signed by Harmeet Dhillon, an assistant attorney general heading the division, also said that part of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 makes it a crime for an election official in a federal election to knowingly and willfully tabulate ballots that they know to be materially false, fictitious or fraudulent under state laws where an election is held.
“For example, knowingly retaining noncitizens on Hawaii’s ‘State Voter Registration List’ and sending such individuals ballots, and then counting such ballots, would constitute the ‘procurement, casting, or tabulation’ of ballots that are known to be false in violation of section 12(2)(B) of the NVRA,” Dhillon’s letter said.
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In a response letter on Tuesday, Deputy Solicitor General Thomas Hughes at the state Department of the Attorney General,
declined the offer.
“At this time, we have no reason to believe that any discussion or assistance is necessary to ensure Hawaii’s compliance with federal law,” Hughes wrote. “As with every election, the State of Hawaii and its election officials will continue following every applicable federal and state law.”
The response letter from Hughes also said, “Having served as Hawaii’s Chief Election Officer for over
16 years, Mr. Nago is well aware of the federal laws cited in the letter and its attached memorandum, including the legal obligations those laws impose on him, the Hawaii Office of Elections, and local election officials in Hawaii. … If you have specific information about any violation of federal or state law, we encourage you to bring it to our attention.”
Under the U.S. Constitution, states carry out elections. Under federal and state law, it is illegal for noncitizens to vote or register to vote, and there have been no widespread substantiated instances of noncitizens voting in Hawaii, where state law requires people who register to sign an affidavit stating under penalty of a felony that they are a U.S. citizen as well as a Hawaii resident and at least 18 years old.
President Donald Trump claims that noncitizens voting in elections have produced “massive” cheating and are part of “rigged” elections.
The seven-page letters to top election officers in states follow attempts by the Trump administration to obtain state voter lists and to prohibit the U.S. Postal Service from delivering ballots by mail unless it receives lists of eligible voters derived from data compiled by federal agencies — two initiatives held up in federal court.
On Thursday, Trump said in a public address that the Department of Homeland Security identified about 278,000 noncitizens on registered voter rolls around the country, and that the “real number” is much higher because
six states led by Democrats, including Hawaii, refused to share voter roll information.
Nago previously said in an interview that he traditionally receives an annual letter from federal officials conveying a reminder to follow federal law pertaining to elections, but that past letters during and before the prior Trump administration never asked for a reply explaining how federal law would be followed.
“This is a weird request to me,” he said. “They are basically asking how you’re going to follow the law, and I never had that kind of request because it’s not like following the law is optional. … We intend to comply with the federal law.”
Voters in Hawaii have mainly cast ballots by mail since 2020 after passage of a bill in 2019 by the state Legislature that became law and directed that ballots be mailed to all registered voters in part to make voting more convenient and reduce costs for staffing community polling stations. A relative few voter service centers also operate for people to vote in person on and ahead of election day, and voters also can deposit sealed ballots they receive by mail in numerous secure drop boxes around the state.
In 2024, 95% of Hawaii voters — 551,036 out of 579,784 — voted by mail. The other 5%, representing 28,748 voters, cast their ballots in person.
Hawaii’s primary election this year is to be held Aug. 8, and registered voters should receive ballots by Tuesday. The general election is Nov. 3, and ballots should be received for that by Oct. 16.