U.S. Department of Justice Sues California Over Alleged Noncitizen Voter Registrations

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against California, alleging that more than 20,000 individuals believed to be noncitizens are registered to vote and may have received mail-in ballots for the November 2026 federal election. California state officials, including Governor Gavin Newsom's office and Secretary of State Shirley Weber, have disputed the federal claims and pushed back against demands to set aside flagged ballots. Los Angeles County's top election official also raised data security concerns about accessing the federal government's list. The matter is now before the courts, and no final determination on the number of ineligible registrants has been made.

The Justice Department has taken California to federal court over approximately 20,000 voter-registration entries that state records indicate may belong to individuals without citizenship status, with mail-in ballots for the November 3, 2026, federal election reported to have been distributed from within that group. Defending the policy as a safeguard for electoral integrity, officials pointed to an existing federal prohibition on noncitizens voting in national contests. According to the statement, voter eligibility determinations ought to draw on independently verifiable sources rather than on data comparisons whose accuracy has not yet been established. A court dispute set to play out before November centres on three unresolved disputes: which level of government holds authority over election administration, how the personal data of voters is kept secure, and what involvement federal bodies should have in voting processes run by individual states.

U.S. Department of Justice Sues California Over Alleged Noncitizen Voter Registrations

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U.S. Department of Justice Sues California Over Alleged Noncitizen Voter Registrations

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