Elections belong to the states and to the voters. Yet the Justice Department has been used to pressure state and local officials over how they run their own elections. Officials have faced criminal investigations and subpoenas for doing their jobs. Voters have been threatened with having their ballots set aside on the claim that they might not be citizens. A federal judge described a pattern of attempted election interference. Eligible citizens should never have to wonder whether their vote will count because a president wants a different result. Election workers should never fear prosecution for following state law. Congress can write firm limits into law. It can bar federal prosecutors from using investigations, subpoenas, and threats to pressure states into discarding lawful ballots or abandoning their own procedures. Pass a law that stops the Justice Department from coercing states and punishing election workers over how they run elections.
