U.S. sues California in fight over checking citizenship of mail voters

The federal government is asking a federal judge to stop California from counting certain mail ballots immediately. The ballots would come from voters the DOJ identifies as likely noncitizens. This matters because noncitizens are barred from voting in federal elections, but eligible citizens could also be affected by mistaken matches or delays.

The requested process has two steps. California would set aside the questioned ballots, then determine each voter's citizenship status before counting. The DOJ also wants officials to prevent ballots from being sent to people on its list who have not received one yet.

The lawsuit followed a 48-hour demand from acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter. California officials say the federal government has not supplied evidence or explained its methodology. A judge must now decide whether to order the requested procedure during the election.

To segregate a mail ballot is to place it aside from the regular counting process. The ballot remains identified and preserved, but officials do not include it in the vote total while a required check is pending. This is meant to prevent a potentially ineligible ballot from being counted before its status is known.

In this dispute, the DOJ wants California to separate ballots from voters it identifies as likely noncitizens. Officials would then verify whether each voter is actually a U.S. citizen. If citizenship is confirmed, the ballot could be counted under the requested process; if not, it would remain excluded from a federal election.

The article does not describe California agreeing to this procedure. Instead, Secretary of State Shirley Weber's office says the request lacks evidence and legal authority. Delays or errors could therefore affect eligible voters as well as ineligible ones.

The figure cited in the article is 190,000 people. President Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullen claimed in July that California had 190,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls. The claim became part of the broader federal effort to examine whether noncitizens might receive ballots for federal elections.

California did not accept the figure as established. Secretary of State Shirley Weber's office called the claims unsubstantiated and immediately requested written information about the federal methodology and data sources. The office said federal officials refused to provide that information.

The lawsuit now concerns a list of people the DOJ believes are likely noncitizens, including names given to Los Angeles County on a thumb drive. The article does not say that all 190,000 people were sent ballots or voted. It reports only that federal officials made the claim about the voter rolls.

If citizenship checks take too long, an eligible voter's ballot might be held aside while other ballots are counted. That could delay the ballot's inclusion or prevent it from being counted by the required deadline. The practical concern is that a safeguard aimed at noncitizen voting could also affect citizens.

A mistaken identification is another risk. A voter could appear on a federal list because records are incomplete, outdated, or similar to another person's records. Unless officials confirm the person's identity and citizenship accurately, the ballot could be wrongly treated as questionable. The article does not report that this has happened in this lawsuit.

California says it already requires only U.S. citizens to register and removes ineligible registrants. The DOJ seeks a court order for additional checks, while state officials warn that the demands could cause chaos and public distrust.

California's state and local election officials run the practical election process. The article identifies Secretary of State Shirley Weber's office and Los Angeles County officials as participants in managing voter records and mail ballots. California also has state-law requirements governing registration and removing ineligible registrants.

The federal government, through the Department of Justice, is invoking the federal rule that noncitizens cannot vote in federal elections. The DOJ is asking a federal court to require California officials to set aside certain ballots and verify citizenship before counting them. This creates a dispute over federal enforcement and state election administration.

The article presents both governments as having different roles, not as one government controlling every election task. California says its officials are responsible for administering elections and protecting voter data. The DOJ says federal election eligibility rules justify its requested court intervention.

Election officials can verify citizenship by comparing registration information with reliable government records. Possible sources include state motor-vehicle and vital-records systems, naturalization or immigration records, passport records, and the federal SAVE database. These systems should be used under applicable privacy and election laws, with human review rather than treating an unconfirmed database match as proof.

The article specifically mentions DHS/SAVE data, but it does not explain the exact database process used in this case. California's secretary of state requested written details about the federal methodology and data sources. Weber's office said federal officials refused and provided nothing.

That disagreement is central to the lawsuit. The DOJ supplied Los Angeles County with a thumb drive containing questioned names, while California says officials cannot blindly trust the list. The article does not identify which records would ultimately confirm or reject each person's citizenship.

States can operate their own voter-registration systems because election administration is largely carried out through state and local offices. They maintain voter rolls, process registrations, and handle ballots. But when the election is for federal office, federal law supplies national eligibility rules, including the prohibition on noncitizens voting.

The California dispute shows how those responsibilities can overlap. California officials control the state’s registration and ballot procedures. The DOJ says federal law supports checking ballots from people it identifies as likely noncitizens. California argues that federal officials have not shown adequate evidence or legal authority for the requested intervention.

This arrangement can produce conflict when federal officials seek to direct state procedures. A court may have to balance federal election requirements with California’s administration of its voter data and ballots. The article reports that the DOJ filed suit, but it does not state how the court ruled.