The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against California on October 15 after identifying more than 20,000 people it described as “likely noncitizens” registered to vote in the state.
Federal prosecutors allege that the suspected noncitizens received mail-in ballots ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, seeks an emergency order preventing the state from counting ballots from those individuals until their citizenship status can be verified.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said federal officials gave California 48 hours to review the list of suspected noncitizens and determine whether they were eligible to vote.
The DOJ also requested that ballots returned by individuals whose citizenship could not be confirmed be set aside until their eligibility was established.
“California refused,” Essayli wrote on X.
According to CBS News, Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter sent letters to California counties earlier this week. The letters instructed election officials to review names compiled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office declined to review the information provided on an encrypted thumb drive.
County Registrar Dean Logan said accessing the device would conflict with established data privacy and information security protocols.
“We do not consider the device a secure medium,” Logan said in an October 14 statement.
Logan also said removing voters from registration rolls must be based on verifiable information rather than unconfirmed data matching.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber separately disputed the administration’s allegations. She said the DOJ had not provided her office with the list of names and criticized earlier claims that California had 190,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls.
However, federal prosecutors maintain that California failed to cooperate with efforts to identify potentially ineligible voters.
“The Federal Government asked California to work collaboratively to identify any noncitizens registered to vote in the State. California made no serious effort to do so,” the lawsuit states.
Attorney General Todd Blanche also criticized the state’s handling of the matter.
“State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America,” Blanche said.
He warned that California could face serious consequences if a court determines that the state violated federal election laws.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected the allegations and accused President Donald Trump’s administration of attempting to interfere with the upcoming elections.
“This is a sad, desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day,” Newsom said.
Under California law, eligible residents can be automatically registered to vote when applying for a driver’s license, identification card or change of address unless they opt out.
The state also automatically mails ballots to registered voters before elections.
The California lawsuit comes amid a broader federal effort to examine voter registration records nationwide.
According to CBS News, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has filed 31 lawsuits seeking unredacted voter rolls from states. The department has lost 26 of those cases and has not secured a legal victory.
Federal officials say the records are needed to identify noncitizens who may be unlawfully registered.
The allegations against California have not been established in court. The DOJ is seeking to prevent the counting of ballots from suspected noncitizens until their eligibility is determined.