The United States Department of Justice has given California election officials a 48-hour deadline to identify and separate potential non-citizen voters ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, mundonow.com reported. The federal directive targets more than 20,000 voter registrations flagged by federal agencies, setting up a direct conflict with state election authorities who warn the mandate could affect eligible voters.
Federal prosecutors sent letters on Friday, October 23, to election offices across at least 18 counties, demanding that local officials commit to reviewing the flagged lists and temporarily setting aside ballots whose citizenship status remains unverified. The move follows a federal lawsuit filed by the Justice Department on October 15 against California over alleged irregularities in its voter rolls.
Federal Agencies Flag More Than 20,000 Registrations
The administration argues that individuals on the federal government’s suspect list could receive ballots because California automatically mails a voting packet to every registered elector. The 20,000 names represent individuals under federal suspicion rather than individuals proven through judicial proceedings to have voted illegally.
The Justice Department’s letters instruct county officials to request identification information and withhold the counting of questioned ballots until citizenship requirements are verified.
California Challenges Federal Data and Planners Warn of Errors
State election officials have rejected the federal demands, questioning the reliability of the databases used to compile the lists of potential non-citizen voters. A preliminary review conducted in Los Angeles found that the federal data included individuals born in the United States, people without active voter registrations, and residents who had never cast a ballot.
Local officials point out that appearing on a federal suspect list does not prove a lack of citizenship or confirm illegal voting activity. State leaders maintain that the sudden federal intervention threatens to disrupt the certification of election results and infringes on legitimate voters’ rights as millions of mail-in ballots arrive in homes across the state.
Court Hearing Scheduled Ahead of November 3 Midterms
With millions of Californians already participating in the election via mail-in ballots, the legal battle moves toward a crucial court date. A federal court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, October 27, to examine the administration’s request to segregate the contested ballots before they are counted.
While federal authorities push for tighter verification protocols, state officials continue defending their existing voting procedures. The upcoming court ruling will determine how election workers handle the flagged ballots when polls close on November 3.
More on California
BREAKING: In an escalation from the DOJ, prosecutors sent demand letters to individual registrars across California, giving them 48 hours to sequester the ballots of suspected noncitizen voters. https://t.co/p2gbXZ4757
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