President Biden’s deliberate absence from the statewide ballot does not make the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary “meaningless,” and telling voters that it does violates voter suppression laws, according to Granite State AG John Formella’s office.

Formella’s office sent a cease and desist order to the Democratic National Committee’s Rules & Bylaws Committee on Monday instructing them not to issue false statements about the state’s primary.

The warning came after the AG reviewed a letter dated Jan. 5 and sent to New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley, in which the senior state party official is instructed to “educate the public that January 23rd is a non-binding presidential preference event and is meaningless and the NHDP and presidential candidates should take all steps possible not to participate.”

The DNC’s assertions about the primary come following a party determination that New Hampshire’s delegates likely would not be accepted at the Democratic National Convention if they didn’t follow through with instructions to allow South Carolina to lead off the voting cycle during the 2024 elections.

New Hampshire party officials spent months making it clear that they did not have the ability to change the state’s primary date, which by law must occur before any other state holds a vote.

Biden’s re-election campaign eventually chose not to appear on the state’s ballot at all during the primary, leaving U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson the only listed national candidates left for liberal voters to choose between, though there has been a statewide effort launched to inform Democrats that they can still write in Biden’s name.

Polling suggests the 46th president will win the primary despite his name not appearing in print. A Saint Anselm survey released in mid-December showed Biden leading by 50 points, with Phillips netting 17% of the vote and Williamson 10%.

Even without the incumbent candidate’s presence on the ballot and regardless of the party’s plan to accept state delegates, according to Formella’s office telling voters the election is “meaningless” is “false, deceptive and misleading.”

“Falsely telling New Hampshire voters that a New Hampshire election is ‘meaningless’ violates New Hampshire voter suppression laws,” Assistant AG Brendan O’Donnell wrote. “Accordingly, this office orders you, the DNC, and the RBC to immediately cease and desist.”

The cease and desist letter closes by making it clear the matter remains open and the attorney general’s office is prepared “to take further enforcement action based on actions described in this letter.”

The NHDP, which has not indicated they intended to comply with the order to “educate” voters on the apparently meaningless nature of the primary, didn’t seem to refute any of the accusations leveled against the national party by the attorney general’s office, instead taking the opportunity to point out the absurdity of the moment and encourage people to vote.

“Well, it’s safe to say in New Hampshire, the DNC is less popular than the NY Yankees. State law requires the New Hampshire Secretary of State to conduct the first-in-the-nation primary and he is going to follow the law — period. Nothing has changed, and we look forward to seeing a great Democratic voter turnout on January 23rd,” Buckley said.