Justice Department threatens California over dubious noncitizen mail-ballot claims
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The DOJ has escalated pressure on California, demanding that officials sift through a federal list of alleged noncitizen voters and isolate their mail ballots ahead of the 2026 election, while state leaders say the move has no legal basis.
The Justice Department has threatened California with legal action unless state and local election officials comb through a list of people the federal government claims are likely noncitizens who received mail-in ballots for the 2026 election. Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter sent letters to Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan, attaching a password-protected thumb drive with the names and demanding a review by noon on Thursday.
"Allowing noncitizens to vote cancels citizen votes," McCotter wrote in the correspondence obtained by NBC News.
The department said it wants officials to "segregate — not cancel — those individuals’ vote-by-mail ballots" until citizenship status can be verified, pointing to the criminal statute that limits voting in federal elections to U.S. citizens. A DOJ spokesperson insisted the request is in line with federal law and that voting by noncitizens is a crime.
California officials pushed back. Logan said his office had not accessed the thumb drive because it conflicted with data-privacy and security protocols, and he questioned the device’s security. He stressed that any removal of a voter must rest on verifiable information, not unconfirmed data. Weber did not comment.
Legal experts noted that federal law bars systematic voter-list maintenance within 90 days of a federal election, allowing only individualized updates such as death notifications from the Social Security Administration. NBC News contributor Justin Levitt, a former DOJ official, said the department lacks authority to compel California to act on the list.
The letters arrive amid a broader federal effort, described by state officials as an attempt to build a pretext for post-election challenges. Washington state elections director Stuart Holmes warned of preparations for potential seizures of voting equipment or ballots, while Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar characterized the administration’s actions as intimidation meant to discourage voter participation.