DOJ threatens legal action against California over noncitizen voter rolls

The U.S. Department of Justice has threatened legal action against California election officials, demanding they review a list of individuals the federal government believes are likely noncitizens who received mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 election. Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter sent letters on Tuesday to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan, giving them until noon on Thursday to verify the citizenship status of the names provided.

Federal Demands and Legal Threats

The letters included a password-protected thumb drive containing the names of individuals the federal government identified as "likely noncitizens who were sent a vote-by-mail ballot." According to NBC News, McCotter wrote in the letter that officials should "segregate — not cancel — those individuals’ vote-by-mail ballots" until their citizenship status was determined. The Washington Examiner reported that the DOJ instructed officials to contact precincts to have ballots "segregated" if citizenship could not be independently verified, and to intercept ballots not yet mailed.

The federal government warned that failure to comply would result in litigation. "If you cannot implement this process by then, given the ongoing federal election, the United States will have no choice but to seek emergency relief," McCotter wrote, according to Politico and the Associated Press.

A Justice Department spokesperson stated, "The Department of Justice sent letters to California election officials demanding immediate action to ensure that noncitizens who automatically received ballots per California law do not vote in the upcoming federal election." The spokesperson added, "This should not be controversial, as the criminal statute is clear: only American citizens may vote in federal elections."

State Response and Skepticism

California mails ballots to all registered voters, a process that began on Oct. 5. Neither Weber nor Logan immediately responded to requests for comment. However, election officials in California and other states have expressed skepticism regarding the federal government's data.

In July, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sent letters to several states, including California, alleging that as many as 250,000 noncitizens were registered to vote. Weber responded at the time, stating, "I have serious doubts about the reliability of your data and accuracy of your claims, since my office has not shared our statewide voter registration list with DHS or any other federal agency or official."

Tricia Webber, president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, called the 48-hour deadline "completely unreasonable." She noted that verifying voter eligibility typically involves reviewing registration history and contacting the voter, a process that takes longer than two days. "It would take more than 48 hours to even begin to get the full picture," Webber said.

David Becker, a former Justice Department voting section attorney, questioned the timing of the letters, noting that California’s voter lists are public and the administration has had "21 months with total control of the federal government to review those public lists."

Broader Context of Federal-State Election Disputes

This action is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration to investigate noncitizen voting, a phenomenon that voting experts describe as rare. The Justice Department has sued 30 states and Washington, D.C., for voter registration data, losing every case in which a judge has ruled so far, including in California. In Nevada, a federal claim of 1,500 noncitizen voters was later corrected to zero after state review, according to the Associated Press.

The administration has charged about 90 people for election misconduct this year, including 50 alleged noncitizen voters, according to the Associated Press. In contrast, there were more than 227 million registered voters in the United States during the 2024 presidential election.

Why it matters

The dispute highlights the ongoing tension between federal enforcement efforts and state authority over election administration. While federal law prohibits noncitizen voting, the Constitution grants states primary responsibility for running elections. The DOJ's threat of emergency relief sets up a potential legal confrontation just weeks before the midterm elections, raising questions about the scope of federal power to intervene in state voting procedures and the reliability of federal databases used to flag potential ineligible voters.

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Sources

• washingtonexaminer.com: DOJ demands California review list of 'likely noncitizens' voting by mail
• nbcnews.com: Justice Department threatens legal action against California over alleged noncitizen voters
• politico.com: DOJ demands California review voting rolls in two days, threatens legal action - POLITICO
• mynbc5.com: DOJ threatens California over claimed noncitizens on voter rolls - WPTZ
• apnews.com: Justice Department threatens California over claim of noncitizen voters | AP News
• mezha.net: Trump administration threatens legal action against California election officials over voter rolls | Межа

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.