The Department of Justice sent letters to California officials requesting they review a list of “likely noncitizens” who were sent mail-in ballots to vote in the Nov. 3 election.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder and Clerk Dean Logan received the notices Tuesday, according to the letter obtained by the Washington Examiner. The letters included thumb drives detailing a list of possible noncitizens believed by the federal government to have received ballots to vote by mail.
The letters stem from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin informing Weber in July that there are “likely numerous noncitizens registered to vote in the federal election in California.”
Mullin asked that the accuracy of his conclusion be checked by Weber “to prevent noncitizen votes from diluting citizen votes.” The letter says Weber did not challenge the notion that noncitizens received ballots in the mail “through California’s vote-by-mail regime, which automatically sends voting materials to ‘every registered voter.’”
At the time, Weber requested more information, which the letters sent Tuesday included on a password-protected thumb drive.
The DOJ requested that Weber and Logan respond within 48 hours to verify whether the names on the list are citizens.
If California officials are unable to confirm the citizenship status associated with a mail-in ballot independently, they are instructed to contact the precinct the ballots are being sent to for those ballots to be “segregated” until their citizenship is confirmed. They are also tasked with intercepting ballots that have not yet been mailed in order to “protect American citizens’ votes while preventing noncitizens from participating in the federal election in violation of federal law.”
“The Department of Justice sent letters to California election officials demanding immediate action to ensure that noncitizens who automatically received ballots per California law do not vote in the upcoming federal election,” a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement. “This should not be controversial, as the criminal statute is clear: only American citizens may vote in federal elections. It is a federal crime for noncitizens to vote in U.S. elections, and the DOJ is asking California to ensure that is not occurring.”
According to a DOJ official, “thousands” of possible noncitizens were identified as having been sent vote-by-mail ballots. While Los Angeles County received a letter, the official said the names that were flagged span the entire state.
“If you cannot implement this process by then, given the ongoing federal election, the United States will have no choice but to seek emergency relief,” the letter concluded. “We look forward to our collaboration as we work together to ensure free, fair and accurate elections.”
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First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, who penned the letters, has long criticized California’s vote-counting system. Following unexpected leaps in the Los Angeles mayoral primary, Essayli alleged the state was “blocking a federal audit of its voter rolls.”
California has responded to the Trump administration’s crackdown on elections with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signing a raft of election-related bills aimed at limiting law enforcement interference with ballots and election administration ahead of the midterm elections. The measures create new felony penalties for the seizure of ballots and election records, restrict certain law-enforcement activity near polling places, expand access to ballot drop-off locations, and offer translated election materials.