California Election Officials Push Back as DOJ Demands Sequestration of ‘Noncitizen’ Ballots

Local election officials across California find themselves in the middle of an escalating legal battle between the state and the federal government as the U.S. Department of Justice issued a series of letters demanding that county registrars sequester ballots from thousands of voters suspected of being noncitizens. The demand, which arrived late Friday with a strict 48-hour deadline, has left county clerks frustrated and, in some cases, personally rattled by threats of federal prosecution.

The letters represent the latest move in a federal lawsuit filed on October 15, which seeks to prevent the state from counting mail-in ballots from approximately 20,000 individuals identified by the federal government as potential noncitizens. While it is illegal for noncitizens to register or vote, election officials and legal filings from the state suggest the data provided by the federal government is riddled with inaccuracies, including the names of people born in the United States.

In Napa County, Registrar of Voters John Tuteur reported that two uniformed Department of Homeland Security officers delivered a letter to his office on Friday afternoon. The communication listed 42 names out of the county’s 86,000 registered voters, accusing them of being noncitizens. Tuteur, who oversees a county of 130,000 people where 11,000 mail-in ballots have already been cast, said the sudden federal intervention has caused significant stress for his staff and family.

“All of this is simply meant to raise huge doubts about the integrity of this election,” Tuteur said, adding that he does not intend to alter his current procedures. “We’re not changing anything we’re doing. We’re proceeding with the election.”

The Department of Justice has requested sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers, for the individuals on the list. Federal authorities warned that any election official who knowingly processes a ballot cast by a noncitizen could face legal jeopardy. Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, stated that the letters serve as a clear warning. “The letters speak for themselves,” Essayli said. “Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy.”

However, officials in several counties have questioned the reliability of the federal data. In Los Angeles County, where over 331,000 mail-in ballots have already been processed, a preliminary analysis of a sample of 200 names from the federal list found that 40% had already canceled their registrations. Furthermore, 70% of that sample had no history of voting, and nearly four in ten were confirmed to have been born in the United States.

Kristin B. Connelly, the clerk-recorder and registrar for Contra Costa County, expressed skepticism that the federal list would hold up under scrutiny. She pointed to a similar incident in Nevada last July, where federal claims of 1,500 noncitizen voters on the rolls were eventually revised to zero after the administration was asked to provide proof.

Errors have also been reported in smaller jurisdictions. According to state court filings, Mendocino County officials received a list from the DOJ that included individuals who were not even residents of that county. In Amador County, Clerk-Recorder Kim Grady received a list naming four individuals and has been waiting for state guidance on how to handle the 48-hour federal deadline.

DOJ spokeswoman Kiersten Pels stated on Saturday that the department is not requesting a purge of voter rolls or the cancellation of registrations, but is instead seeking “collaboration” to ensure election security. The federal push follows a sweep earlier in the week where 28 individuals from the statewide list were charged with illegal registration, with some facing additional charges of illegal voting or lying on naturalization documents.

Despite the federal pressure, state officials and voting experts maintain that noncitizen voting is extremely rare. Recent federal charges in Minnesota involving 10 people alleged to have voted illegally across three elections stand in contrast to the more than 8 million ballots cast in that state during the same period.

A panel of judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments on Sunday regarding whether California can be compelled to comply with the federal sequestration demands. In the meantime, local registrars continue to process the ballots of the state’s 23 million registered voters as the midterm election approaches.