An elections office must keep election records for the legally required retention period in Microsoft 365. Which Purview concept applies?

Retention policies or labels in Microsoft Purview keep content for required periods before disposal is allowed, supporting legal and records obligations. An elections office that must keep election records for the legally required retention period in Microsoft 365 should apply that retention concept. Sensitivity labels that classify election files and enforce encryption and access rules for sharing still do not enforce the statutory keep period or prevent early deletion unless paired with a retention policy. Insider Risk Management policies that flag risky handling of election records for further review address insider-threat indicators; they do not enforce a statutory records retention period for election files. eDiscovery cases that hold election files for legal litigation review before authorized release decisions preserve content for a specific investigation or lawsuit, but they do not implement the statutory keep-for-required-period schedule or authorize routine disposal afterward. Exam caveat: AB-900 includes retention under Purview Data Lifecycle / retention skills—map "keep for the required period" to retention policies or labels, not sensitivity-label sharing rules, insider-risk review flags, or eDiscovery litigation holds alone. Operational check: apply retention covering election record repositories for the full statutory period, prevent unauthorized early deletion, and coordinate disposal only after the period ends and any holds are cleared.