The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on Thursday against California, alleging the state refused to review a list of suspected noncitizens who were sent mail-in ballots to vote in the midterm elections.
The lawsuit comes two days after the DOJ sent letters to the California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder and Clerk Dean Logan requesting that the officials review a list of names believed by the federal government to be noncitizens who received mail-in ballots.
In the lawsuit, the Justice Department said the Department of Homeland Security found “thousands” of “likely noncitizens” who were registered to vote, meaning the state would automatically send them ballots by mail.
The federal government alerted Weber of the issues in July, requesting she review the names, but “California made no serious effort to do so.” Weber had responded to DHS’s request and did not challenge the notion that noncitizens received ballots in the mail.
The California secretary of state on Wednesday said President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin had ignited the debacle in July when they “made (still) unsubstantiated claims that California had 190,000 non-citizens on its voter rolls.” She added that when asked for information on the methodology and data sources behind their claims, they refused to fulfill the request.
The DOJ’s letters requested Weber and Logan review the list of suspected noncitizens on a thumb drive, but both declined to do so. Court filings said the thumb drive contained 20,000 names of noncitizens suspected of receiving mail-in ballots.
“Given the time sensitivity of the impending election, the Federal Government asked California to conduct its review by today at noon,” the lawsuit reads. “California failed to do so. Indeed, rather than respond to the Federal Government, the Los Angeles County Recorder-Registrar / County Clerk announced via a press release that its office rejected an encrypted thumb drive from a federal agent that identified likely noncitizen voters—demonstrating a total lack of commitment to work with the Federal Government to protect the integrity of our elections.”
In his press release, Logan said there were concerns about accessing the thumb drive as it was not considered “a secure medium” and “doing so would conflict with established data privacy and information security protocols.”
The DOJ said in the filing Thursday that California has made it “impossible” for the federal government to ensure secure elections. The lawsuit hinges on the supremacy clause and argues the DOJ has an obligation to ensure election security.
“By sending ballots to likely noncitizens despite the Federal Government notifying California of serious concerns, Defendants (collectively, California) have made it nearly impossible for the United States to investigate and enforce federal law,” prosecutors said. “This is a substantial drain on federal resources. In addition, when aliens illegally vote in elections, they dilute the votes of citizens and unduly influence who runs the Federal Government. That also undermines public faith in federal elections. Distorting federal elections is about as direct of an injury to the United States as one can imagine.”
DOJ DEMANDS CALIFORNIA REVIEW LIST OF ‘LIKELY NONCITIZENS’ WHO RECEIVED MAIL-IN BALLOTS
Weber framed the circumstances as an effort to “purge” voter rolls to “fuel public distrust in our elections.”
“California has robust state law requirements that only U.S. citizens can register to vote and that any non-eligible registrants are removed from the State’s voter rolls,” she said. “My office and California election officials remain committed – as always – to ensuring a fair and smooth 2026 General Election.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
