The US Department of Justice has urged California election officials to check the citizenship status of people suspected of being noncitizens. The department has also warned that officials could face legal action if they knowingly count ballots cast by people who are not eligible to vote in federal elections.
The Justice Department sent letters on Friday to 57 of California’s 58 counties. The move adds pressure on local election offices as President Donald Trump’s administration steps up its efforts to identify suspected noncitizen voters before the midterm elections.
Los Angeles County received a similar letter last week. The new letters show that the federal government wants local officials to work directly with federal agencies to review voter records.
NBC News obtained a copy of the letter sent to San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters Joani Finwall. The letter came from the US attorney’s office in Los Angeles and was signed by First Assistant US Attorney Bilal Essayli.
Essayli said the office was sharing a list of 1,133 people described as “likely aliens.” He asked county officials to work with the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to establish who on the list was a US citizen.
Federal Officials Set a Short Deadline
The letter asked San Bernardino County to agree within 48 hours to work with federal officials. Essayli said the review should determine which people were citizens and which were not.
He also warned about sending mail-in ballots to people on the list or counting ballots they had already cast before their citizenship status was confirmed.
For cases where officials could not confirm citizenship, Essayli asked the county to separate the ballots from other ballots. He said the ballots should be held aside rather than canceled while the checks continued.
Essayli argued that voting in a federal election as a noncitizen is a federal crime. He also warned that knowingly helping such voting could lead to legal consequences.
In a statement to NBC News, Essayli said the letters made the federal government’s position clear. He said election officials who knowingly process ballots cast by noncitizens could face legal risks.
However, appearing on a federal list does not by itself prove that a person is not a citizen. The people named in the list would need to have their status checked before officials could reach a final decision.
California Democrats Dispute the Move
The Trump administration has made efforts to identify suspected noncitizen voters a major part of its election policy. California has become a central focus of that effort because of its large electorate and strong support for Democratic candidates in recent national elections.
The Justice Department has already sued to prevent California from counting more than 20,000 mail-in ballots from voters it suspects may not be US citizens. On Thursday, the department asked the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to impose limits before a lower court had ruled on the case.
The legal fight has raised questions about the federal government’s role in state election systems. It has also placed local election officials between federal demands and their duties under state election law.
Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, criticized the letters in a statement late Friday. He said the administration had not shown evidence of widespread voter fraud. He also argued that the data used to identify suspected noncitizens was inaccurate and unreliable.
Padilla said the federal government could not gain authority over California’s election process simply by filing lawsuits or threatening local officials.
The New York Times was the first outlet to report the letters.
Voter Records Under Scrutiny
Federal law generally bars noncitizens from voting in federal elections. Some local jurisdictions, however, allow noncitizens to vote in certain local contests. The key question in the California dispute is whether the people identified by federal officials are ineligible to vote in the elections at issue.
Voter records and citizenship databases can contain errors or outdated details. Differences in names and other record problems may also lead to mistaken matches. Such cases can require further checks before officials can determine whether a voter is eligible.
The Justice Department’s request to separate ballots rather than cancel them would allow the ballots to remain apart while officials review citizenship status. The exact process may depend on court decisions and how county election offices respond.
The dispute comes as election officials prepare for the midterms. They must protect election rules while ensuring eligible voters are not wrongly excluded or delayed.
The letters and lawsuits are likely to keep citizenship checks and mail-in ballots at the center of the election debate. Any court ruling could affect how federal and state officials handle voter records in California and how similar disputes develop elsewhere.
