Trump Administration Targets California Voter Rolls With Subpoenas

The Trump administration is pursuing a federal effort to identify and remove non-U.S. citizens from state voter rolls, with a primary focus on California. Although the administration dropped a lawsuit against the state and faced multiple court rulings stating the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security lack the statutory authority to distribute noncitizen lists, federal investigators are continuing criminal and civil probes into election integrity.

U.S. attorneys have issued grand jury subpoenas to several California counties, including Los Angeles, Santa Clara, and Sonoma. These subpoenas seek records on how local officials handled federal demands to segregate ballots. While federal officials previously alleged that 20,000 noncitizens were on California's rolls, independent analysis by UCLA and local officials found the lists contained significant inaccuracies, including naturalized citizens and individuals who were not registered to vote.

Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that these investigations will continue regardless of recent election results. At the local level, San Luis Obispo District Attorney Dan Dow is investigating noncitizen voters flagged by federal officials, noting that while noncitizen voting has always been a crime, he had not previously had such cases referred to him.