Justice Department orders California counties to set aside 'likely' noncitizen ballots
Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding officials set aside and verify ballots the Department of Justice says may belong to noncitizen voters, giving counties a 48-hour deadline. At least 18 counties have received similar letters.
Justice Department orders California counties to set aside 'likely' noncitizen ballots
The letters are the latest escalation in a legal battle between California and Donald Trump's Department of Justice over noncitizen ballots in California ahead of the midterm elections.
What the letters demand
Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots the DoJ said may belong to noncitizens. According to the Los Angeles county registrar's office, at least 18 counties across the state have received similar letters.
The demands on the counties include:
- Provide identifying information for ballots the federal government believes were sent to noncitizens illegally registered to vote, within a 48-hour deadline
- Sequester any ballots where citizenship cannot be verified
- Hand over voters' social security numbers, ID information and a copy of their registration
The letter to San Bernardino County states that the government's list of suspected noncitizen voters includes 1,133 people from that county.
Federal warning
First assistant US attorney Bill Essayli cautioned election officials handling the ballots in question:
Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy
The wider legal battle
The letters follow a voter fraud lawsuit filed earlier in October, when the federal government sued Los Angeles county and the California secretary of state's office to block them from counting the votes of roughly 20,000 people it calls "likely" noncitizen voters. Earlier in the week, federal authorities charged 28 people from that list with illegally registering to vote; some were also charged with illegally voting and lying on naturalization paperwork, charges that could lead to years in prison.
The Trump administration asked the ninth circuit court of appeals to rule on the lawsuit, setting a deadline of Saturday and doing so barring a decision from the district judge. California's lawyers argue the federal government's data is unreliable and that the demands risk disenfranchisement of citizens; they also say the request could delay vote certification and undermine the legitimacy of the midterm elections. Both California's secretary of state and the Los Angeles county registrar have opposed the federal government's demands.
Scale of the California electorate
California has more than 23 million registered voters, who received mail-in ballots earlier this month. According to state legal filings, over 330,000 mail-in ballots have already been counted. Broader data indicates illegal voting by non-US citizens is incredibly rare and difficult to prove, and it has not been shown to change election outcomes.
A hearing on the federal lawsuit against Los Angeles county and the California secretary of state's office is scheduled for Tuesday.
