Justice Department requests access to Dominion voting equipment used in Missouri in 2020

The U.S. Department of Justice has requested access to voting equipment used in the 2020 election in two Missouri counties in what appears to be a wide-ranging effort to more closely monitor election processes around the country.

A DOJ official in August contacted the county clerks and asked for access to their Dominion Voting Systems equipment, according to a memo from the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities that was shared Wednesday with The Associated Press.

The Justice Department asked to test Jasper County voting machines.

Jasper County Clerk Charlie Davis told the KZRG Morning Newswatch:

“So you know, I did get a call from the Department of Justice or somebody who said that they were from the Department of Justice and they were talking about elections, etc. Which, which is what my expertise is, of course.”

Davis went on to say: “So we were talking for a few minutes and then he asked about having the ability to come test our equipment. Well, you know, I asked.  I didn’t ask for what reason? Is it because Trump got more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016? More votes in 24.”

Jasper County Clerk Charlie Davis declined the testing request, saying he no longer had the equipment. 

The memo said McDonald County Clerk Jessica Cole had the equipment, but also declined. 

In a statement quoted in the memo, Cole said state and federal law prohibits election officials from giving unauthorized access to election equipment.

The unconventional requests to a state President Donald Trump has won three times, first reported by the Missouri Independent, signal how the DOJ during Trump’s second term has sought a closer watch over how states run their elections. 

The president himself has sought broad authority over elections in the runup to the 2026 midterms that the Constitution does not give him.

Election experts have said the Justice Department is stretching beyond its legal authority with its outreach in Missouri and its separate demands for state voter registration lists in nearly two dozen states.

In Missouri, voting equipment is approved by the secretary of state and meets strict state and federal standards, said Sherry Parks, president of the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities. 

Parks said local election officials are responsible for custody, maintenance, preparation, testing and storage of the equipment. 

They are not allowed to let unauthorized parties access or tamper with the machines.

According to the memo, Missouri’s former secretary of state, Republican Jay Ashcroft, contacted the Jasper County clerk last week and asked him to comply with the DOJ’s request. 

Ashcroft suggested the clerk should give the DOJ a piece of equipment, and Ashcroft would replace that equipment with a new item, the memo said. 

The clerk told Ashcroft he couldn’t comply because he no longer had the voting equipment.

Ashcroft could not immediately be reached for comment. 

The memo said Ashcroft’s request followed the initial outreach to the two clerks by Mac Warner, the former Republican secretary of state in West Virginia who now works in the Justice Department’s civil rights division.

The Associated Press contributed to this story