The Justice Department has issued a 48-hour deadline for California officials to investigate a list of potential noncitizen voters and set aside their ballots, threatening emergency court action if the state does not comply. Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter sent the demand on Tuesday to Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan, including a thumb drive with the names of individuals flagged as likely noncitizens who received mail-in ballots.
McCotter requires local officials to verify the citizenship status of these individuals by noon on October 15. The letter does not specify how many people are on the list. For any voter whose status cannot be confirmed, the Justice Department instructs officials to segregate, rather than cancel, the ballots and suspend signature verification or counting for any ballots already returned. The department also asks that ballots be withheld from anyone on the list until citizenship is verified.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber received a similar letter. McCotter closed his communication with a direct threat: if the state cannot implement the requested process by the deadline, the United States will seek emergency relief in court. This demand comes with voting already underway, raising concerns that eligible Californians mistakenly flagged as noncitizens could face delays just three weeks before Election Day.
A Justice Department spokesperson stated that only American citizens may vote in federal elections and that it is a federal crime for noncitizens to vote. The spokesperson said the department is asking California to ensure this law is followed. The office of California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and the Los Angeles County office did not respond to requests for comment.
David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research, questioned why the Justice Department would investigate elections so close to Election Day, noting that past claims by the administration have contained errors. Becker pointed out that the administration could have investigated voter rolls before mail-in ballots began going out on October 5.
This move escalates a broader push by the administration to identify suspected noncitizen voters. In July, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin alleged that more than 190,000 voters were erroneously registered in California, a claim state officials disputed. Since then, ICE investigators, FBI agents, and DOJ prosecutors have dedicated resources to increasing charges against illegal voting, with about 1,600 ongoing cases as of mid-September.
However, previous sweeping claims by the administration have often shrunk upon review. In Nevada, an initial allegation of 16,000 illegal registrations dwindled to potentially 185 after a review by state election officials, according to The New York Times. In Pennsylvania, Department of Homeland Security officials conceded they had varying degrees of confidence in flags placed on about 14,000 voters, according to Votebeat. Similarly, while DHS claimed New Jersey had 35,000 noncitizen voters, Governor Mike Sherril admitted to registration mistakes from a software error but cited a figure of about 6,600, a fraction of the initial claim.