DoJ Orders California Counties to Set Aside Ballots It Says May Belong to Noncitizens

On Friday, federal prosecutors sent letters to county election offices across California with a demand that came with a short clock: set aside any ballots that may have been cast by noncitizens, and hand over identifying information about the voters involved within 48 hours. The Los Angeles county registrar confirmed the letters, and the Associated Press obtained a copy of one.

According to the registrar's office, at least 18 counties received similar letters. The Justice Department wants Social Security numbers, ID information, a copy of each voter's registration and more. The letter sent to San Bernardino County officials says the government's list of suspected noncitizen voters includes 1,133 people from that inland southern California county. It also asks counties to sequester any ballot where citizenship cannot be verified. Bill Essayli, the first assistant US attorney, said any election official who knowingly processes a noncitizen's ballot opens themselves to legal jeopardy.

The letters are the newest step in a legal fight between California and the Trump administration's Justice Department, which has recently concentrated on the state in its effort to root out noncitizen voting before the midterms. Earlier this month, the federal government sued Los Angeles county and the California secretary of state's office, seeking to block them from counting the votes of roughly 20,000 people it calls "likely" noncitizen voters. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Tuesday. The administration has also asked the ninth circuit court of appeals to rule on the lawsuit if the assigned district judge does not decide first, and it set a Saturday deadline.

California's secretary of state and the Los Angeles county registrar have opposed the demands. In legal filings, state lawyers argue the request threatens to delay certification of the vote and to undermine the legitimacy of the November midterms. They also say the federal government's data is unreliable and that acting on it risks disenfranchising citizens.

The timing matters because voting is already under way. The state's more than 23 million registered voters were mailed ballots earlier this month, and California said in filings that over 330,000 mail-in ballots have already been counted.

The letters followed a statewide sweep by federal authorities earlier in the week. Twenty-eight people from the list of 20,000 were charged with illegally registering to vote. Some also face charges of illegally voting and of lying on naturalization paperwork. The charges could carry years in prison.

The broader record frames all of this. Data shows that illegal voting by noncitizens is extremely rare, difficult to prove, and has not been shown to change the outcome of any race.

What to watch next: the Saturday deadline the administration set for the ninth circuit, Tuesday's hearing, and whether counties comply with the 48-hour demand while ballots continue to arrive.