California has been given 48 hours by the Trump administration to examine suspected noncitizen voters—or face a potential court battle ahead of the midterm elections.
The Justice Department outlined its demand in letters sent Tuesday to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Dean Logan, the registrar-recorder and county clerk for Los Angeles County. Reuters first reported the correspondence.
Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter said federal officials provided Los Angeles County with a password-protected thumb drive containing the names of people they believe may be noncitizens who were issued vote-by-mail ballots.
A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed to The California Post that the letters called for immediate steps to prevent noncitizens who received ballots from casting votes in the upcoming federal election.
“This should not be controversial, as the criminal statute is clear: only American citizens may vote in federal elections,” officials said. “It is a federal crime for noncitizens to vote in U.S. elections, and the DOJ is asking California to ensure that is not occurring.”
The message to Weber warned that the federal government could seek emergency court action if California does not comply, escalating the latest dispute between Washington and the Golden State over election administration.
“If you cannot implement this process by then, given the ongoing federal election, the United States will have no choice but to seek emergency relief,” McCotter wrote.
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Logan received a separate letter along with the password-protected drive, which federal officials said identifies suspected noncitizens who were mailed ballots.
McCotter instructed election officials to investigate the names within 48 hours and temporarily hold the ballots while citizenship information is reviewed.
“For individuals whom you cannot independently confirm citizenship status, we request that you immediately instruct the appropriate elections official to segregate — not cancel — those individuals’ vote-by-mail ballots until their citizenship status can be determined,” he wrote.
Representatives for the California secretary of state and the governor’s office had not immediately responded to The Post’s requests for comment.
The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that voter fraud and noncitizen voting are significant problems, although research has found such incidents to be uncommon.
A Reuters investigation reported that software errors and administrative mistakes may have added more than 30,000 noncitizens to voter-registration rolls across the country since 2000. The investigation did not determine how many of those individuals ultimately cast ballots.
Separately, federal prosecutors announced 16 new criminal cases Monday involving allegations of noncitizen voting or fraudulent voter registrations.