Justice Department files lawsuit to halt counting of 20,000 California mail ballots
The U.S. Justice Department sued California, seeking an injunction to stop the state from counting mail ballots for roughly 20,000 voters it claims may be non-citizens, prompting strong objections from state officials.
The Justice Department filed a complaint in the Central District of California asking a federal judge to block the state from counting mail ballots for about 20,000 voters identified by federal immigration agencies as "likely noncitizens." The suit, filed on Thursday, alleges that the voters were sent ballots in violation of federal election law and the Supremacy Clause.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the action, stating that "state-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable" and that California could undermine confidence in the electoral system if the ballots were counted.
California Governor Gavin Newsom responded on X, calling the lawsuit an attempt to suppress voters and asserting that courts have ruled the federal government has no role in running state elections. Attorney General Rob Bonta also wrote on X that the administration's demands are meritless and that no widespread voter fraud has been found.
The complaint relies on a review by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Homeland Security Investigations, which together identified the 20,000 individuals with "high confidence" as likely noncitizens. The Department of Justice gave California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan 48 hours to set aside the ballots, warning of emergency relief if they did not comply.
Weber and Logan rejected the request, noting that the list includes voters from across the state and that the Justice Department has not provided the underlying evidence or methodology. Weber described the demand as an "emergency of the DOJ’s creation" and said California will continue to follow applicable federal and state law.
The lawsuit arrives weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, which have already begun with mail-in voting. Separate litigation in Washington, D.C., brought by the UCLA Voting Rights Project seeks to block the Justice Department from intervening in California’s election process.
Democratic senators, including Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, wrote to Attorney General Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, criticizing the Justice Department’s actions as an attempt to challenge ballots ahead of Election Day and urging officials to focus on conducting a safe election.