Follow-Up: DOJ Warns California and LA County Officials They Could Face Federal Liability Over Disputed Mail Ballots
Washington — The U.S. Justice Department on Friday warned Los Angeles County and California election officials they could be liable as abettors of a federal crime if they count mail ballots returned by more than 20,000 people the administration says are probably noncitizens, Reuters reported on October 16. The warning, in a letter from Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter to Los Angeles County Assistant Counsel Peter Bollinger, was copied to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and LA County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan.
McCotter wrote that noncitizen voting in a federal election is a federal crime and that knowingly facilitating such conduct is equally unlawful, and he called on the county and the secretary of state to reconsider their refusal to take the steps the administration argues are needed. President Donald Trump shared the letter on Truth Social, commenting that the officials would all go to jail for a long period of time. The county counsel's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Weber's office referred Reuters to her earlier statement, in which she said the department's attempts to gain access to states' protected voter data and purge voter rolls serve only to cause chaos and fuel public distrust in elections.
The letter is the latest step in this week's dispute: the department had given California 48 hours to review a list of alleged noncitizen voters, and on Thursday sued California to block the state from counting the ballots, as GSM has reported. The November 3 midterm elections are less than three weeks away. (GSM, via Reuters)
Related: America's Electoral System (4): The Midterms: What Is on the Ballot on November 3, 2026
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 美国司法部总部大楼（Pelajanela 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，维基共享资源）
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