Justice Department Gives California 48 Hours to Review Alleged Noncitizen Voters or Face Legal Action
The Justice Department gave California officials 48 hours to review a list of people it believes are noncitizens who received mail-in ballots, threatening emergency legal action weeks before the November 3 midterms.
The U.S. Justice Department has given California election officials 48 hours to review a list of people the federal government believes are noncitizens who were sent mail-in ballots, warning it will seek emergency relief in court if the state does not comply, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.
The letter was written by acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter and addressed to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Reuters reported Tuesday. It says the department gave Los Angeles County officials a “password-protected thumb drive” with the names.
Under the letter’s terms, California would refuse to send ballots to anyone on the list until their citizenship is confirmed. Ballots from listed voters that are mailed back would be “segregated,” and ballots already returned would not be counted “until citizenship has been determined.”
“Allowing noncitizens to vote cancels citizen votes,” McCotter wrote. The letter says the federal government “will have no choice but to seek emergency relief” if officials do not follow the instructions.
A test before the midterms
The move comes three weeks before the November 3 elections, in which Republicans will defend narrow majorities in Congress. California could help decide control of the House, especially after voters approved a new congressional map that favors Democrats, part of a nationwide redistricting sprint that began in Republican-led states, Reuters noted. Los Angeles voters will also decide a ballot measure on whether certain noncitizen legal residents can vote in municipal elections.
DOJ spokeswoman Kiersten Pels confirmed the letter’s existence, saying the department “will take all necessary legal action to protect election integrity and ensure compliance with federal law.” The White House and Weber’s office did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The letter is part of what Reuters described as an unprecedented effort by the administration to find evidence of voter fraud. In July, the department warned election chiefs in all 50 states that they could face criminal prosecution for allowing noncitizens to remain on voter rolls, and its Civil Rights Division has demanded nonpublic voter data from nearly all states. Reuters reported the department has sued 30 states that refused and lost 26 of those cases without winning one. Studies have repeatedly found noncitizen voting to be rare.
Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.
