DOJ demands California counties set aside suspected noncitizen ballots

Summarised from 5 outlets · Updated 24 Oct, 05:51 · Archive

The Trump administration's Department of Justice has demanded that California counties identify and set aside ballots from over 20,000 people suspected of being noncitizens. Federal prosecutors sent letters to at least 18 counties on Friday, giving officials a 48-hour deadline to provide identifying information for individuals flagged as likely noncitizens and to sequester any ballots where citizenship cannot be verified.

First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli told Fox News that federal investigators have verified all 20,000 flagged individuals are not U.S. citizens and received mail ballots this month. He said the number represents a floor, with thousands more names expected to be added in coming days. The figure originated from a letter by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sent to California in July flagging nearly 200,000 voters as possible noncitizens. Federal investigators have since been sifting through those records to identify people they can verify as noncitizens.

Essayli stated in a Thursday briefing: 'Every minute that goes by, American citizen votes are being diluted in the state of California. It's an emergency, and we expect the courts to treat it as such.' He emphasised that the administration was not asking California to take drastic steps, only to 'sequester the ballots from the suspected noncitizens'.

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit earlier this month targeting Los Angeles County and California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, seeking to block them from counting the votes of the 20,000 people identified as 'likely' noncitizen voters. Attorney General Todd Blanche is leading the Justice Department's push for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to force California to set aside the disputed mail-in ballots and verify voters' citizenship before counting them. The administration asked the appeals court to rule by Saturday, 24 October. A hearing on the case in district court is scheduled for Tuesday.

The emergency motion warns that Los Angeles County has already processed more than 331,000 mail-in ballots. Once election workers separate ballots from their envelopes, the government argues, identifying individual voters becomes impossible, making it critical to keep potentially ineligible ballots separate before they are counted.

California election officials have pushed back against the Justice Department's demands. State officials argue that county election offices lack both the authority and access to federal records needed to verify voters' citizenship status. Governor Gavin Newsom said the state follows all relevant federal law governing the integrity of elections. The state and Weber oppose the request.

Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections. The government says some people have already been criminally charged over alleged illegal registration and voting. Essayli warned: 'Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy.' Multiple outlets reported that data shows illegal voting by noncitizens is incredibly rare, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races.

How it is being reported

• Trump administration demands California expose suspected 'noncitizen' voters in major escalation of crackdown on eve of midtermsThe Trump administration has ordered California election officials to identify suspected noncitizen voters within 48 hours and set aside questionable ballots.Daily Mail · 24 Oct, 05:36
• DOJ demands that some California counties set aside alleged noncitizen ballotsFederal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Justice Department said may belong to noncitizens.CBS News · 24 Oct, 03:54
• California officials ordered by DoJ to set aside ‘likely’ noncitizen ballotsLetters from federal prosecutors represent latest escalation as Trump continues to make claims of voter fraud Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Department of Justice said may belong to noncitizens, according to the Los Angeles county registrar and a letter obtained by the Associated Press. The letters are the latest escalation in a legal battle between California and Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, which has recently focused on the state in its efforts to root out…Guardian World · 24 Oct, 03:00
• LA feds move to halt ballot counting over 20K suspected noncitizen voters“Every minute that goes by, American citizen votes are being diluted in the state of California,” Essayli said Thursday.New York Post · 24 Oct, 00:26
• DOJ has verified 20,000 noncitizens on California voter rolls, federal prosecutor saysBill Essayli says federal investigators confirmed all 20,000 flagged California voter rolls entries are noncitizens who received mail ballots.Fox News · 22 Oct, 18:42

In this story: Bill Essayli · Gavin Newsom · Shirley N. Weber · Markwayne Mullin · Todd Blanche · Trump administration · Department of Justice · California

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem