Justice Department Threatens California Over Alleged Noncitizen Voters

The United States Department of Justice has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to California officials to review a list of alleged noncitizen voters or face legal action. In a letter to Secretary of State Shirley Weber, acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter stated that the department provided Los Angeles County with a password-protected thumb drive containing names of individuals the federal government believes are likely noncitizens who received mail-in ballots.

The department demands that California stop sending ballots to these individuals and segregate any returned ballots until citizenship is confirmed. Federal officials threatened to seek emergency relief if these instructions are not followed. This move is part of a broader Trump administration effort to combat alleged noncitizen voting before the November 3 elections.

While the Justice Department claims noncitizen voting is widespread, other studies suggest the practice is rare. The department has previously sued 30 states for refusing to provide nonpublic voter data, though it lost 26 of those cases. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also been involved, using a commercial data broker to identify sensitive voter information to find noncitizens.