California Attorney General Criticizes DOJ Directive to Verify Noncitizen Ballots

California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Saturday denounced a Justice Department directive that asked state election officials to verify roughly 20,000 ballots suspected of being cast by noncitizens. He said the effort, which came at the direction of President Donald Trump, represented "politicizing and weaponizing the law to attack its enemies, and it is completely improper."

Federal prosecutors had given California counties 48 hours to confirm the citizenship status of the listed voters less than two weeks before the midterm elections. While noncitizen voting is statistically rare, the Justice Department has increased prosecutions of individuals accused of voting without citizenship.

California election officials expressed concern that the rapid verification request could disenfranchise eligible voters. Los Angeles officials noted that a large share of the names on the list were born in the United States.

Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the move on social media, and Congressman Pete Aguilar said voter intimidation has no place in democracy.

The Justice Department stated that it was seeking cooperation from county election officials to provide information for the Department of Homeland Security to quickly verify citizenship status, describing the effort as necessary for a secure election.

Bonta said the department had supplied only a list of names without any explanation of why the individuals were deemed ineligible, and offered to review any additional evidence if provided.

Separately, the department announced the arrest of 28 foreign nationals accused of fraudulently registering to vote, describing the arrests as proof that "California is mailing ballots to noncitizens" and emphasizing the need to protect citizens' voting rights.

Some county officials have not responded to the letters, citing the approaching election, and the dispute is expected to be heard by an appeals court on Tuesday.