On October 15, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against California, seeking to prohibit the counting of mail-in ballots for the upcoming November 3 midterm elections from over 20,000 registered voters whom the Trump administration claims are likely noncitizens. The lawsuit aims to enhance federal oversight of elections as the Republican Party strives to maintain control of Congress.
The complaint, submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, requests a court order that would prevent the state from “tabulating in federal elections vote-by-mail ballots received” from the identified voters until their immigration status is verified. This initiative follows the Justice Department’s warning to California officials earlier in the week, which demanded a review of a list of alleged noncitizen voters who had been sent mail-in ballots.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan received letters from the Justice Department, urging them to segregate the ballots from the voters on the DOJ’s list. The letters emphasized that no votes should be counted for those individuals until their citizenship is confirmed and instructed that ballots not yet sent should be withheld as well.
Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA and an election law expert, expressed concerns that the Justice Department’s demands might conflict with federal laws that prohibit states from conducting mass purges of voter rolls within 90 days before an election. Hasen noted that in a different case, the Trump administration argued that this law should not apply to noncitizen removals as those individuals were unauthorized to register in the first place.
Hasen also stated that the DOJ’s lawsuit may encounter significant legal challenges. He contended that the federal government lacks the authority to dictate to states which ballots can be distributed or counted, reinforcing the principle of state control over elections outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
As of now, neither Weber’s nor Logan’s offices have publicly commented on the lawsuit. The outcome of this legal action could impact how California conducts its upcoming elections.
