DOJ demands California counties act on 1,133-name list to verify citizenship of voters
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The Justice Department sent letters to 57 California counties urging cooperation in identifying non-citizen voters from a list of 1,133 names and warning officials that processing ballots for ineligible voters could carry legal consequences.
The U.S. Department of Justice sent letters on Friday to 57 of California’s 58 counties, requesting that local election officials work with the department and the Department of Homeland Security to confirm the citizenship status of individuals on a list of 1,133 "likely aliens."
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli wrote that the counties must, within 48 hours, commit to identifying which names on the list belong to citizens and which do not. He warned that continuing to send or count vote-by-mail ballots for individuals whose status cannot be verified could expose officials to legal liability.
"I write to make unmistakably clear the legal implications of continuing to send vote-by-mail ballots to those people on the list or tabulating ballots cast by them until citizenship can be verified," Essayli said.
For voters whose citizenship cannot be confirmed, the letter instructed counties to segregate, rather than cancel, their mail ballots until verification is possible. Essayli emphasized that facilitating a non-citizen's vote in a federal election constitutes a federal crime, and knowingly assisting such conduct is also unlawful.
"Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy," he added.
Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, responded that the Justice Department has not presented evidence supporting claims of widespread voter fraud and described the data cited as inaccurate and unreliable. He asserted that the department lacks authority to interfere with state election processes.