DOJ gives California 48 hours to review suspected noncitizen voters
The Justice Department gave California 48 hours to review a list of people it thinks are noncitizens who got mail ballots, Just the News reported. It wants their ballots held until citizenship is confirmed and threatened to go to court. Studies show noncitizen voting is rare, CBS News noted.
The Justice Department has given California 48 hours to review a list of people it believes are noncitizens who were sent mail-in ballots, Just the News reported. If the state does not act, the department says it will go to court.
The letter, dated Tuesday, came from acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, CBS News reported. The names were given to Los Angeles County officials on a "password-protected thumb drive," both outlets said. Similar letters went to other counties in the state, a person familiar with the matter told CBS News.
The department wants the state to set aside, but not cancel, ballots from people on the list until their citizenship is confirmed, CBS News reported. People on the list who have not been sent a ballot should not get one yet, the letter said.
If officials do not comply within 48 hours, the federal government "will have no choice but to seek emergency relief," the letter warns, Just the News reported.
"Allowing noncitizens to vote cancels citizen votes," McCotter wrote, according to Reuters, as published by The Independent. A Justice Department spokeswoman said the department "will take all necessary legal action to protect election integrity."
California's secretary of state's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported. CBS News said it had reached out for comment.
The letter is part of a wider push by the Trump administration on voter rolls, CBS News said. The department has sued many states for their voter lists and has lost 26 of those cases.
President Trump has claimed, without evidence, that the 2020 election was stolen, CBS News reported. Studies have found that voter fraud is rare and not enough to change results, the outlet said. A Reuters review found that errors may have added about 30,000 noncitizens to voter rolls since 2000, a small number compared with about 170 million registered voters.
What we know: The DOJ gave California 48 hours to review a list of suspected noncitizen mail voters.
What we don't: How many names are on the list, and how California will respond.
Where outlets agree CBS News and Just the News both report that the Justice Department gave California 48 hours to review a list of suspected noncitizens who received mail ballots.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.