DOJ Files Lawsuit Against California Over Alleged Noncitizen Voter Registrations

POLICY WIRE — Washington, USA — The U.S. Department of Justice initiated legal action against California on Thursday, asserting that federal authorities have uncovered more than 20,000 instances of noncitizens unlawfully registered to vote.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the lawsuit follows a series of directives issued earlier this week by Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter. McCotter had instructed various counties, including Los Angeles, to investigate a list of suspected noncitizens who allegedly received mail-in ballots for the upcoming midterm elections.

Attorney General Todd Blanche condemned the situation in a formal statement, declaring that state-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable. He warned that if the allegations are proven in court, California will have severely damaged public trust in the electoral process and breached laws designed to safeguard the nation’s representative government.

As part of his directive, McCotter provided the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk with a password-protected thumb drive containing names sourced from the Department of Homeland Security. He mandated that the office complete a review of these names within 48 hours.

Dean Logan, the registrar-recorder and clerk, rejected the demand, stating that his office would not process the drive. Logan cited concerns that the device was not a secure medium and that accessing it would violate established data privacy and information security protocols.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber criticized the Trump administration for the move, noting that the Justice Department failed to provide the list to her office. She further dismissed the administration’s previous assertions that 190,000 noncitizens were present on California voter rolls as unsubstantiated.

In its court filing, the Justice Department claims that California has refused to cooperate with federal efforts to rectify issues within its voter registration lists. The department is seeking an injunction to prevent the state from tabulating mail-in ballots from suspected noncitizens until their citizenship status is verified.

The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department has previously launched 31 lawsuits aimed at compelling states to release unredacted voter rolls. While the division maintains its goal is to ensure list maintenance, it has confirmed plans to share this data with the Department of Homeland Security for noncitizen screening.

Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon issued warnings to all 50 states in July, threatening criminal consequences for jurisdictions that knowingly permit noncitizens to remain on voter rolls. To date, the Justice Department has faced 26 losses in these legal challenges and has yet to secure a victory, leading the agency to rely on public voter lists and independent investigations.

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)