Federal authorities have filed a lawsuit against California, contending that roughly 20,000 individuals whose citizenship has not been confirmed appear on the state's voter rolls, and asking a judge to bar their absentee ballots from being tallied in the November 3 midterm elections pending a review of their eligibility.
A court filing submitted Thursday contends that state authorities have not acted on a roster of names handed over by federal officials who hold that those individuals may be ineligible to cast ballots in federal races. Federal officials have gone to court seeking an order that would place ballots from individuals flagged for citizenship review into a separate pool pending verification before any vote tallies are finalised.
The lawsuit fits into a wider effort by the Trump administration to expand federal involvement in how elections are run, with the upcoming midterms drawing particular attention given that both chambers of Congress remain within reach for either party.
Publicly available voter registration data was matched against immigration records held by Homeland Security Investigations and allied federal agencies, with the aim of identifying people the government considered likely to be noncitizens, according to a Justice Department statement. Officials noted that the review had not yet concluded, with any findings at this stage treated as preliminary.
Federal officials forwarded to California authorities a list of more than 20,000 people whom the government has classified as non-citizens but who nonetheless received absentee ballots, according to an announcement from that agency. State officials received a request to go through the listed names and coordinate with federal agencies to determine whether any of the individuals held US citizenship. According to the complaint, a requested review was never conducted by California.
Blanche, serving as Attorney General, conveyed that the allegations touched on broader questions about the reliability of elections and public trust in voting processes, adding through a formal statement that any involvement by government bodies in fraudulent voting activity runs counter to the nation's foundational principles. A court finding of state liability, he noted, would have damaged public trust in the electoral process and run counter to the legal framework underpinning representative democracy.
Essayli, serving as First Assistant US Attorney, told the court that California had been granted the authority to purge noncitizens from voter registration lists and to set aside mail ballots submitted by individuals suspected of being ineligible to vote, yet the state chose not to exercise either option.
The filing petitions the court to direct California to confirm the citizenship status of individuals flagged by federal authorities — through its own processes or jointly with those agencies — before any mail ballots from that group are counted. The filing additionally requests that vote tallies from those ballots be withheld until all verification procedures have been carried out.
Federal agencies ran voter registration data against immigration records, Mullin told reporters, as part of a process aimed at identifying people on the rolls whose citizenship status was in question. The findings were described as early-stage, with additional review still under way.
The filing, as characterized by Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, contends that noncitizens were being permitted to cast ballots in federal elections held within California.
