US Department of Justice Warns California Over Noncitizen Voters

The US Department of Justice has issued a warning to California over allegations that noncitizens may be receiving mail ballots for the upcoming midterm elections.

A letter sent to Secretary of State Shirley Weber by acting deputy U.S. attorney general Trent McCotter claims that the department has identified individuals who are likely noncitizens and were sent ballots to participate in the November 3 election.

California's practice of mailing ballots to all registered voters has raised concerns about voter eligibility, prompting the Justice Department to take action.

The letter provides officials in Los Angeles County with a password-protected thumb drive containing a list of names believed to be noncitizens who received ballots.

The Justice Department has given California 48 hours to investigate claims that noncitizens are on its voter rolls and take action if necessary. This demand was made just three weeks before Election Day, adding to the urgency of the situation. The department's request is part of a larger controversy surrounding voting rights in the state.

According to the secretary of state's office, the Department of Homeland Security previously claimed that California had 190,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls over the summer. However, when asked for evidence or data sources to support this claim, the department refused to provide them. This lack of transparency has raised concerns about the legitimacy of the federal government's demands.

The secretary of state's office is pushing back against the Justice Department's request, saying it is unreasonable to expect California to blindly trust the administration without any evidence or legal authority to justify its claims. The state requires that only U.S. citizens can register to vote and takes steps to ensure those who are not eligible are removed from the voter rolls.

A separate letter was sent to Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan, requesting that he investigate the claims of noncitizens on the county's voter rolls. As part of this investigation, Logan received a thumb drive containing a list of alleged noncitizens, along with a handwritten note providing a password to access the information.

The password was written on a sticky note, and Logan has expressed concerns about the security of the thumb drive itself. He has not yet accessed any files from the device and has made public the letter that accompanied it, which does not specify the number of individuals flagged by the federal government as noncitizens.

The Justice Department has sent a letter to California's top election official, warning that the state could face legal action if it doesn't remove noncitizens from its voter rolls. The move comes as part of an ongoing effort by the Trump administration to crack down on alleged voting irregularities.

California's Secretary of State's office is currently working with the attorney general's office and other officials to determine how to proceed in light of the Justice Department's warning. However, officials are pushing back against what they see as unfounded claims.

The letter sent by the Justice Department emphasizes that voter eligibility must be based on verifiable information, not on unconfirmed data matching. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has previously dismissed similar claims made by President Trump as "absolutely false conspiracy theories."

Bonta's office is unlikely to engage in unfounded speculation about voter fraud, and instead will focus on ensuring the integrity of California's electoral process. The Justice Department's warnings have raised concerns among election officials, who are skeptical of the administration's claims.

The issue of noncitizen voters has been highlighted by the Trump administration as a major priority this year, despite evidence suggesting that it is an exceptionally rare problem.

The Justice Department's claims about noncitizens on voter rolls have been met with skepticism from some state officials.

In response to a claim that California has 1,500 noncitizen voters on its rolls, a state official expressed doubts about the accuracy of the data. The official pointed out that their office had not shared the statewide voter registration list with federal agencies or officials.

The Trump administration's efforts to identify noncitizens on voter rolls involve seeking detailed information from states, including dates of birth and driver's license numbers. However, some Republican-led states have turned over this information, which has been run through a U.S. Department of Homeland Security database that has been criticized for inaccurately flagging U.S. citizens.

Despite the Justice Department's claims, its attempts to obtain voter data from states have largely been unsuccessful in court. In fact, California and other states have successfully argued against turning over sensitive information, citing concerns about state privacy laws.

The California Association of Clerks and Election Officials has also weighed in on the issue, with one official calling a 48-hour deadline to vet voters flagged by the federal government "completely unreasonable."

California election officials have a thorough process in place for investigating reports of ineligible voters on the rolls. When such a report is made, their office conducts a detailed examination of the voter's registration history to determine whether they had previously cast ballots.

The officials also reach out directly to the voter in question to verify their eligibility, which Webber emphasized would take more than 48 hours to accomplish. She questioned how the federal government obtained its list of alleged noncitizen voters, given that it doesn't have access to the state's detailed voter information.

Webber added that her decades-long experience working for local election agencies has led her to conclude that voter records are not filled with fraudulent voters, a notion she has never seen evidence to support.