Trump administration warns California election officials of possible prosecution over noncitizen ballots
DOJ threatens California election officials with criminal prosecutions
The Associated Press is reporting the Trump administration is escalating its fight with California ahead of next months midterm election, warning that local officials who process and tabulate ballots submitted by suspected noncitizen voters are putting themselves at risk of criminal investigation and potential prosecution. State election officials are skeptical of the claim that there are as many as 200,000 registered noncitizen voters.
The Justice Department warned that local California officials who processed and tabulated ballots submitted by suspected noncitizen voters will be subject to a criminal investigation and possible prosecution.
Trump administration vs California
Dig deeper:
In a letter addressed to the Los Angeles County Counsel’s office, as well as California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan, a senior DOJ official warned the entire state that the legal consequences of these actions were "significant."
What they're saying:
"The legal consequences for either facilitating or ignoring a federal crime are significant. Noncitizen voting in a federal election is a federal crime — and knowingly facilitating such conduct is equally unlawful. If persons knowingly tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens, they risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime," according to the letter which was obtained by The Associated Press.
What we know:
The letter was sent less than three weeks before the Nov. 3 election.
What we don't know:
It is unclear how many individuals the DOJ plan to investigate and charge.
FILE - A voting booth as a voter casts their ballot at a polling location inside Echo Park Branch Library during a primary election in Los Angeles, California, US, on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Hunting noncitizen voters
Big picture view:
The DOJ has charged about 90 people for various types of election misconduct so far this year, including 50 who were alleged to have voted as noncitizens.
The charges are a reflection on the Trump administration’s aggressive hunt for noncitizen voters, which he made a priority this year.
In addition to tracking down noncitizen voters, the Trump administration is also demanding detailed voter information such as dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.
DOJ lawsuit against California
The backstory:
The DOJ also filed a lawsuit against California after officials were given, and did not meet, a 48-hour deadline to review a password-protected thumb drive that contained the list of 20,000 names.
The federal government claimed there were likely noncitizens who were sent ballots to participate in the Nov. 3 election.
The other side:
The secretary of state countered, saying the administration had not provided evidence of these claims. The state mails ballots to all registered voters.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press.