The Trump Administration this week ramped up its legal challenges to voting in California in a bid to bar the state from counting 20,000 ballots less than a week before the midterm elections.
The battle playing out in a federal courtroom between California election officials and the U.S. Department of Justice raises the stakes and the tension with voting already underway in the most populous state in the nation. Election officials are facing pressure to resolve the federal demands while protecting voters' rights. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump threatened the election officials with jail time for failing to cooperate with federal officials.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter heard arguments Tuesday over whether the Department of Justice can bar California from counting the ballots of some 20,000 people until it can confirm they are U.S. citizens. He signaled his intent to appoint a special master to examine the federal government's claims and process for identifying voters who may be registered illegally.
Alleged voting by noncitizens has been a key focus of President Donald Trump's administration as the country's voters decide which party will control Congress for the rest of his term, though available data indicates the illegal practice is exceedingly rare.
Thanks to a rare mid-decade gerrymander, California appears poised to snatch three or four house seats from the president's party. However, some of the races are expected to be close, including District 13, where Rep Adam Gray won by less than 200 votes in 2024, the slimmest margin of any Congressional race in the country.
The Republican administration sued election officials in heavily Democratic California in mid-October, accusing them of failing to meet a 48-hour deadline to review its list of 20,000 names it alleged were likely noncitizens on the state's voter rolls. The U.S. Department of Justice is demanding that counties set aside some mail-in ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election or risk legal action.
The effort is part of a federal lawsuit filed Oct. 15 against California. County officials are pushing back or reviewing how to respond, raising concerns about voter privacy, the reliability of federal data and the legal protections afforded to eligible voters.
In Northern California, Marin County officials said Tuesday they would not comply with a demand to set aside ballots from 48 voters whose citizenship status federal officials questioned. San Mateo County is reviewing a request involving 328 voters, while Riverside County stated it has been given 48 hours to respond to a demand involving 1,355 ballots.
The federal government's list identifies people it believes are likely noncitizens, but the accusations in the lawsuit have not established that those individuals are ineligible voters or that they cast ballots unlawfully.
The Justice Department's complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, claims that federal agencies reviewed California voter-registration records alongside immigration and other government data and identified more than 20,000 registered voters they suspect are likely noncitizens.
Investigators compared voter information with federal records, used third-party software to address incomplete or mismatched data, and conducted additional reviews to assess citizenship status. The complaint acknowledges that voter data may be incomplete and that some matches can reflect "incomplete, outdated, or mismatched data on the individual."
Agencies used additional checks, including searches for evidence of naturalization and reviews of other federal records, according to the complaint.
Federal officials said California did not adequately cooperate with their request to verify the names before ballots were counted. The lawsuit argues the state's handling of ballots from voters identified by federal agencies conflicts with federal law prohibiting noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
"The United States thus seeks commonplace election relief when a ballot is called into question," the complaint states, asking the court to order California to set aside ballots from people identified as likely noncitizens and verify their citizenship before counting them.
The lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief against California, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan. It does not establish that every person on the federal list is a noncitizen or has voted illegally.
The legal fight has also moved through the federal appeals court. On Oct. 26, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the administration's attempt to obtain immediate relief, sending the dispute back to the lower-court process rather than ordering California to set aside the ballots.
The Department of Justice stated its request is limited to ballots associated with people identified as likely noncitizens by federal agencies.
First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli argued Tuesday that the Justice Department's demands would not significantly disrupt the ongoing election.
"We have not asked to void any ballots," he said. Instead, the government was seeking to "work with" California officials to "safeguard" the election.
"The case rises and falls on the credibility" of the flagged names, he told the judge, arguing the state has an obligation to investigate before counting those voters' ballots.
California county officials, meanwhile, are weighing the request against state law, voter privacy protections, and the requirement to count ballots cast by eligible voters.
Lawyers for California and Los Angeles County said the federal government has not specified how or when it obtained the voter file, leaving open the possibility the list was inaccurate or outdated. They also questioned the government's reliance on a third-party service to determine Social Security numbers used in their effort.
California officials previously warned in court filings that complying with the Trump administration's demands could "disenfranchise legitimate voters," delay election certification and "cause general uncertainty in the election results."
M. Patrick Moore, a lawyer for the Los Angeles County registrar, argued that the county would cooperate if the federal government wanted to criminally prosecute noncitizens who illegally voted.
"If an individual who is a noncitizen votes, there will be record of that and the county will provide that record," to the federal courts, Moore said in court Tuesday.
Marin County officials said agents from the Department of Homeland Security delivered a Department of Justice demand letter on Friday, along with a list of voters and two declarations from DHS employees.
The letter asked the county to work with federal agencies to identify 48 suspected noncitizens and set aside ballots submitted by those voters until their citizenship could be determined.
After reviewing the request and applicable state and federal laws, the county concluded that complying would likely violate voter privacy protections and the right to have lawful ballots counted.
A preliminary review also found the federal list was, "at best materially unreliable," according to the county's Tuesday announcement.
"We take the accuracy of the voter roll seriously, but questions about eligibility must be supported by reliable information and handled according to law," said Natalie Adona, Marin County registrar of voters. "The rights of lawfully registered voters cannot depend on whether an outside list happens to include their names. Our responsibility is to protect their privacy and ensure that votes cast lawfully are counted."
The county also cited California constitutional protections for lawfully registered voters, saying setting aside their ballots could violate their right to have those votes counted.
In Riverside County, federal prosecutors have demanded that election officials set aside 1,355 mail-in ballots associated with people the government describes as "likely aliens," according to The Press-Enterprise.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli sent the demand late Monday to Riverside County Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco, giving the county 48 hours to agree to work with the Justice Department and DHS to verify the voters' citizenship or face potential legal action.
County elections spokesperson Elizabeth Florer confirmed receipt of the notice to The Press-Enterprise but said officials had not yet reviewed its contents and declined to comment further.
Neighboring San Bernardino County received a similar request, according to the report.
San Mateo County's Registration and Elections Division received a federal request Friday concerning 328 registered voters, county officials said in an Oct. 26 news release.
The county said the Justice Department's letter does not constitute a court order requiring changes to ballot processing.
"Our responsibility is to ensure that every eligible voter can exercise their right to vote while maintaining the integrity and accuracy of our elections," said Mark Church, San Mateo County chief elections officer.
County officials said they are coordinating with the California Secretary of State and the County Attorney's Office to determine how to respond under state and federal law.
SAFIYAH RIDDLE, Associated Press contributed to this report.
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