Across California, county registrars are receiving letters from federal prosecutors with the Department of Justice demanding they set aside and provide verification for ballots allegedly submitted by noncitizens. The DOJ is giving registrars 48 hours to comply.
As KPIX reports, the letters were issued on Friday and concern DOJ suspicions regarding ballots being cast by individuals who are not American citizens. Registrars with at least four California counties — Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Los Angeles, and Merced — have confirmed receipt of such letters.
Additional reporting from the Chronicle details the demand letters sent by U.S. District Attorney Craig Missakian to Contra Costa Clerk-Recorder Kristin B. Connelly and Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters Matt Morales. In them, per the Chronicle, Connelly threatens legal action if election officials do not immediately sequester ballots returned by voters that the feds suspect have been cast by noncitizens.
For Los Angeles County, this is but the latest effort from the Trump administration along similar lines.
Earlier this month, the Chronicle also reported that the federal government targeted both Los Angeles County and the California Secretary of State's office in a lawsuit intended to prevent them from counting votes from 20,000 alleged noncitizens. The outlet noted that, statistically speaking, votes being cast by noncitizens remains an "incredibly rare" occurrence.
A hearing on that case is scheduled to take place on Tuesday.
The DOJ's current demands, which have reportedly been sent to 18 counties across California, include registrars being told to provide identifying information that corresponds with ballots flagged as suspicious by the federal government. The letter further instructs county officials to sequester any ballots if citizenship cannot be verified.
The identifying information being requested includes sensitive materials like Social Security numbers, ID information, and copies of each voter's registration paperwork.
The Chronicle also notes that Friday's letters "came on the heels of a statewide sweep by federal authorities" that took place earlier in the week. As a result of that sweep, a total of 28 people from the DOJ's list of 20,000 were charged with illegally registering to vote.
Earlier this year, the DOJ's Civil Rights Division filed 31 lawsuits in a sweeping effort to force states to hand over unredacted copies of voter rolls. The DOJ has lost all 26 of the cases to be decided thus far.
Related: Voters Urged to Mail Ballots a Week Early or Use Election Drop Boxes to Ensure They’re Counted
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