Justice Department orders California counties to set aside ballots from suspected noncitizens
Justice Department Orders California Counties to Set Aside Ballots
Qwenews.com – The Justice Department orders California counties to review a federal list of voters suspected of being noncitizens and to separate mail ballots connected to those individuals while citizenship questions are examined. The directive has intensified an election dispute ahead of the November midterm elections.
Letters sent Friday instructed county election officials to coordinate with federal authorities on the citizenship status of people identified in the accompanying material. The department warned that knowingly counting ballots cast by noncitizens could carry criminal consequences for election workers.
“If persons knowingly tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens, they risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime,” First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli wrote to San Bernardino County officials.
Earlier request focused on Los Angeles County
The Justice Department orders California counties action follows an Oct. 13 letter from Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter to Los Angeles County and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber. That letter gave officials 48 hours to evaluate a federal list of people suspected of being noncitizens who had received mail ballots for the November election.
McCotter said the department could pursue emergency court action if state and county officials did not comply. The Oct. 13 letter included a password-protected thumb drive containing names of people the administration believed were likely not US citizens.
Federal officials did not demand that California immediately cancel the voter registrations included in the material. Instead, they asked election administrators to set aside ballots when citizenship could not be verified during the review.
Los Angeles County Clerk Dean C. Logan said election offices are responsible for maintaining accurate voter-registration records, while emphasizing that decisions about eligibility must rely on verifiable evidence.
“Maintaining accurate voter registration records is a fundamental responsibility of our office,” Logan said. “Federal and state laws are clear on how voter eligibility is established – and any action to remove a voter from eligibility must be based on verifiable information, not assertions of unconfirmed data matching.”
Lawsuit challenges ballot processing
The Justice Department last week sued California and Los Angeles County, seeking to stop the counting of more than 20,000 mail ballots tied to people federal officials believe are likely noncitizens. A federal judge scheduled a hearing for the following week.
On Friday, the department also asked the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene before that hearing. The government argued that election processing should not continue unless ballots linked to suspected ineligible voters are separated.
“Every minute of processing that occurs without segregating the ballots of suspected ineligible voters causes untraceable disenfranchisement and dilution of the votes of United States citizens,” the motion stated.
The dispute could shape the limits of federal intervention in state and county election administration. California counties conduct elections locally, under state and federal rules governing registration, ballot handling, voter challenges, and eligibility reviews.
Only US citizens may vote in federal and state elections. California, however, allows noncitizens to vote in certain local contests, including some municipal or school board elections. Those local rules do not extend to statewide or federal races.
Questions surrounding federal voter data
The administration has repeatedly argued that hundreds of thousands of noncitizens may be listed on voter rolls. In August, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the department had identified 250,000 people it believed were noncitizens registered in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada.
California election officials have stressed that records can be affected by incomplete information, outdated databases, similar names, and errors in matching data between agencies. Those concerns are central to the disagreement over how quickly counties should act on the federal list.
California ballot review FAQ
What does it mean to set aside a ballot? A ballot may be separated from the regular processing stream while election officials review whether the voter is eligible. The Justice Department orders California counties to use that approach when citizenship cannot be verified.
Does a suspected citizenship issue automatically cancel a voter registration? No. Federal officials did not ask California to immediately cancel the registrations named in their material. County and state officials must follow the applicable procedures for determining voter eligibility.
Can noncitizens vote in California? Noncitizens cannot vote in California’s state or federal elections. Some local jurisdictions allow noncitizen voting in limited municipal or school board contests, but those rules do not apply to statewide or federal races.
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