Follow-Up: DOJ Seeks Emergency Restraining Order to Stop California Processing Ballots From 20,000-Name List
Los Angeles County, California: On October 19, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an emergency request in federal court for a restraining order to stop California from processing ballots returned by people on a 20,000-name list of voters the federal government describes as likely noncitizens. In its filing, the department wrote that once illegally cast ballots are counted and commingled with lawful votes, the resulting harm may be impossible to remedy. The filing came the same day the department announced election-crime charges against 28 noncitizens in California, which GSM reported on October 19.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said at a Monday press conference: 'This Department of Justice will not look the other way while noncitizens vote in federal elections,' criticizing California and Los Angeles County for not acting. DOJ officials said all 28 defendants are green-card holders who appear on the 20,000-name list; a number of them do not appear to have actually voted, some registered more than 20 years ago, and many are accused of making false statements in their naturalization applications. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Monday that voter registration is 'not something that just happens to you.' Officials said the department has charged 113 noncitizens across 20 states with voting and registration crimes in the past seven weeks.
California officials had already rejected the federal demand. Secretary of State Shirley Weber wrote to the department on October 13 that the extraordinary measures demanded were contrary to both federal and state law, and that withholding and segregating ballots of duly registered voters would be an unprecedented suspension, and even denial, of voting rights. Los Angeles County Assistant County Counsel Peter Bollinger wrote on October 15 that the county was not authorized to take the actions requested, noting the federal list included voters from outside Los Angeles County whose records the county does not maintain. About a half dozen voting and civil rights organizations moved last week to intervene in the case, arguing the department's demands are unlawful.
McCotter said Monday that the 20,000 figure represented the people the department was most confident were noncitizens after the Department of Homeland Security cross-referenced various government databases and records; in July, DHS had alleged California potentially had 190,000 noncitizens on its rolls. UCLA election-law scholar Rick Hasen said that with more than 20 million registered voters in California, the number of allegations is quite small, and it remains unknown how many will pan out. The case began with the Justice Department's October 13 delivery of the 20,000-name list with a 48-hour deadline, followed by a federal lawsuit after California declined to act, as GSM has reported in a series of stories. A court ruling on the emergency request is pending.
Related: America's Electoral System (4): The Midterms: What Is on the Ballot on November 3, 2026
Related: Update: California Attorney General Asks Federal Court to Deny DOJ Bid to Set Aside 20,000 Ballots
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：在旧金山投寄的邮寄选票信封（资料图，非本次选举选票）。ArielGlenn 摄，经 Wikimedia Commons 发布，CC BY-SA 4.0。Photo: A mail ballot envelope being posted in San Francisco (file photo). By ArielGlenn, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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