The United States Department of Justice warned election officials across California on Friday that they could face federal scrutiny if they refuse to identify suspected noncitizens on voter rolls. Local officials received a 48-hour window to help determine the citizenship status of individuals named on federal government lists.
Bilal Essayli, the first assistant US attorney for the Central District of California, signed letters sent to counties across the state. The Justice Department shared the texts of six letters on Saturday, warning that continuing to process ballots from individuals on the list without checking citizenship risked significant federal scrutiny and legal exposure.
Officials who knowingly counted ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens risked becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime, the letters stated. Each document included local statistics drawn from a previously distributed list of 20,000 people alleged to be noncitizens registered to vote.
The Justice Department asked officials to immediately instruct workers to segregate vote-by-mail ballots rather than cancel them until citizenship status could be determined. Federal figures identified 1,754 suspected noncitizens registered in Orange County, 1,355 in Riverside County, and 1,133 in San Bernardino County. Figures also showed 334 in Ventura County, 180 in Santa Barbara County, and 63 in San Luis Obispo County.
A separate letter shared by Contra Costa County listed 407 likely aliens registered to vote. Dawn Kruger, a spokesperson for the Contra Costa County Elections Department, addressed the directive and told reporters that the letter arrived 11 days before Election Day with an unenforceable 48-hour deadline.
Kruger said the office is conducting the election in accordance with federal and state laws and will continue to do so. Versions of the letters were sent to all 58 California counties, according to reports.
Ahead of the midterm elections, the Justice Department has ramped up prosecutions of people accused of illegally voting while not holding US citizenship. The White House has also pushed federal agencies to accelerate their review of at least 47 state voter rolls obtained by the Department of Homeland Security, according to an internal email.
On October 16, federal authorities warned Los Angeles County and California election officials of potential liability as abettors of a federal crime over mail ballots returned by more than 20,000 people the administration said were probably noncitizens.
California officials have rejected the moves by federal authorities. State representatives stated the federal government has not provided sufficient information about how it identified the alleged noncitizens.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber accused the administration of attempting to unlawfully access protected voter data and purge voter rolls, saying such efforts undermine confidence in elections.
