Ahead of the upcoming November 3 midterm elections, the U.S. Department of Justice has intensified pressure on California election officials. The federal agency has demanded the verification of identities for voters suspected of being non-citizens within 48 hours, threatening legal action if the request is ignored.
According to the Los Angeles Times and Reuters on the 14th, the Department of Justice sent a letter on the 13th to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan. The letter instructs election authorities to review the list of suspected non-citizen voters and provide a response within 48 hours.
The DOJ believes that mail-in ballots may have been sent to thousands of individuals presumed to be non-citizens. Consequently, the agency has demanded that ballots from voters whose citizenship has not been confirmed be stored separately. Votes already submitted must be excluded from the tally until citizenship is verified, and the mailing of ballots that have not yet been sent should be withheld.
Trent McCotter, Acting Assistant Attorney General at the DOJ, stated in the letter that allowing non-citizens to vote is equivalent to invalidating the votes of actual citizens. He warned that if the demands are not met, the department will seek emergency relief measures from the court.
The DOJ also delivered a USB flash drive containing the list of suspected voters to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. However, Registrar Logan stated that he did not open the USB due to security concerns. He explained that verifiable evidence is required to strip voters of their qualifications and that he is reviewing countermeasures alongside Secretary Weber and California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Doubts have also been raised regarding the accuracy of the voter lists provided by the federal government. Previously, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed that approximately 16,000 non-citizens were registered to vote in Nevada. However, subsequent verification reduced the number of suspicious cases to 185, all of whom were later confirmed to be U.S. citizens.
In California as well, the DHS raised the possibility last July that more than 190,000 non-citizens were included on the voter rolls. At the time, Secretary Weber questioned the claim, citing unclear calculation grounds.
Legal controversies are also anticipated. The National Voter Registration Act limits large-scale voter list purging starting 90 days before an election, a rule designed to prevent eligible citizens from being erroneously disenfranchised and losing their voting rights. Whether this rule applies to the cancellation of non-citizen registrations is currently being litigated in the U.S. Supreme Court.
UCLA School of Law Professor Rick Hasen pointed out that making such demands just three weeks before an election is unprecedented and could pose significant legal problems.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been pushing for nationwide voter roll verification to prevent illegal voting by non-citizens. The DOJ has filed lawsuits against 30 states that refused to submit data, but has lost 26 of those cases so far without a single victory.
