DOJ Gives California Registrars 48 Hours to Set Aside Ballots From Suspected Noncitizens

The Justice Department on Friday sent letters to California county registrars demanding they sequester ballots returned by voters federal prosecutors suspect are not U.S. citizens, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Officials in four counties — Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Merced and Fresno — confirmed to the Chronicle that they received a letter. Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan told colleagues the letters went to “some or all” counties.

In letters obtained by the Chronicle, U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian gave the Contra Costa and Santa Clara registrars 48 hours to review lists totaling more than 1,300 voters and confirm their citizenship.

Contra Costa’s letter listed 407 names and Santa Clara’s listed 902, which prosecutors said were those counties’ shares of 20,000 suspected noncitizens. The letters threaten legal action if officials do not comply, the Chronicle reported.

Merced County Registrar Melvin Levey said his office received a similar letter from U.S. Attorney Eric Grant covering 177 names. Fresno County’s registrar said his office is reviewing its letter with state officials.

Counties Push Back

“We aren’t doing anything wrong and are conducting this election in accordance with state and federal election law,” Contra Costa Clerk-Recorder Kristin Connelly told the Chronicle. “Voters need to vote and not be intimidated.”

Logan, in his email to election officials, said the letters carry a “posture of intimidation” and “threatens local election officials twelve days before the election.” He said only his office, not the secretary of state, received the 20,000-name list.

The letters escalate a lawsuit the Justice Department filed last week asking a judge to bar California from counting mail-in ballots from “likely” noncitizens until their status is confirmed. A hearing is scheduled for next week.

The suit followed a 48-hour deadline for the state to review a password-protected thumb drive of names, the AP reported. Logan said he did not consider the drive a secure device.

“This is not political or controversial,” Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, wrote on X. “We will not allow California to dilute the votes of American citizens.”

Secretary of State Shirley Weber has said the government provided no evidence for its claim. Attorney General Rob Bonta noted the administration’s figure had dropped from 190,000, flagged by Homeland Security over the summer, to the Justice Department’s 20,000.

“What happened to those 170,000? They just got those wrong,” Bonta said.

On Monday, the Justice Department announced charges against 28 people for voter fraud, including 23 accused of voting illegally and allegedly casting 34 ballots in elections dating to 2020, according to the Chronicle.

The department has charged about 90 people for election misconduct this year, including 50 alleged to have voted as noncitizens, the AP reported. California has more than 23 million registered voters.

Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, a Democrat whose district includes part of Contra Costa County, called the letters part of “the escalating weaponization of the Justice Department to interfere with the November 3rd election.”

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