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The U.S. Department of Justice has warned election officials across California to cooperate with federal authorities in identifying noncitizen voters or face possible legal action. The DOJ sent letters to 57 of California’s 58 counties on Friday, escalating the Trump administration’s push to prevent noncitizen ballots from being counted in the state. Los Angeles County had already received a similar letter the previous week.
Federal Demands and a 48-Hour Deadline
NBC News obtained the letter sent to San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters Joani Finwall. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli wrote the letter on behalf of the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. The letter included a list of 1,133 names the federal government identified as “likely aliens.”
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Essayli gave county officials 48 hours to commit to working with the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security. He asked them to determine which individuals on the list are citizens and which are not. “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 wrote.
For individuals whose citizenship cannot be confirmed, Essayli asked officials to segregate — but not cancel — their mail-in ballots. He made clear that the segregation should remain in place until each person’s citizenship status is determined. “An alien voting in a federal election is a federal crime — and knowingly facilitating such conduct is equally unlawful,” he added.
In a statement to NBC News, Essayli said, “Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy.” The New York Times first reported the letters.
California Officials Push Back
Senator Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, strongly rejected the federal government’s claims. “Trump’s DOJ has not provided any evidence for their claims of massive voter fraud,” Padilla said in a statement Friday evening. He also noted that the administration had acknowledged its own data was inaccurate and unreliable.
Padilla further argued that the administration lacks the authority to interfere in state elections. “No matter how many lawsuits they file or how many election officials they threaten, they do not have the authority to interfere,” he said.
Broader Push Ahead of Midterms
The letters are part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to target noncitizen voters before the midterm elections. California, a heavily Democratic state, has been a particular focus of that effort. The administration has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the state from counting more than 20,000 mail-in ballots from voters it suspects are not U.S. citizens.
On Thursday, federal officials asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to impose those restrictions immediately. That request came before the lower court had issued any ruling in the case. The situation continues to develop as election officials across California consider their response to the federal demands.
