USAupdated 1h ago3 min read
DOJ Presses California To Segregate Mail-In Ballots Tied To Likely Noncitizens
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DOJ seeks court-ordered segregation of ballots tied to thousands labeled 'likely noncitizens'; California refuses. LA County sample found 40% born in the United States among listed individuals.
DOJ presses ballot segregation
The U.S. Department of Justice demanded that California segregate mail-in ballots tied to thousands of people it identified as "likely noncitizens," and Acting assistant attorney general Trent McCotter told the court that "All we ask in our lawsuit" was ballot segregation to determine whether the individuals are citizens.
Monica Flores, an assistant registrar in the Los Angeles County Clerk's Office, argued that the Justice Department's proposed process "would risk disenfranchising voters who are validly registered."
The Justice Department's list of alleged noncitizens registered to vote in California included a "high percentage" of individuals who said they were born in the U.S., according to a preliminary LA County analysis of 200 individuals from the DOJ's list of some 20,000 accused of being ineligible to vote.
Trent McCotter acknowledged during a Monday press conference that "there may be some names on there who it turns out ultimately are citizens," and he said the administration had asked California to cooperate.
DOJ spokesperson Kiersten Pels accused California of "willful blindness," saying the state refused to independently verify the citizenship of any ballots cast by people on a list the DOJ provided.
LA County finds U.S.-birth
Los Angeles County reviewed a sample of voters on DOJ's "likely noncitizen" list and found that 25.8% recorded a place of birth in the United States, which the county described as a "strong indicator of citizenship status." The county's court filing also said more than 71% of the sampled individuals had never voted, and it reported that 42.9% of the sampled registrations had already been canceled while another 4.6% were inactive. Monica Flores wrote that the review was preliminary and that it "indicates that the October List is unreliable," while she added that 38.9% of voters where birthplace was "meaningfully reported" indicated they were born in the United States.
Trent McCotter said the administration was "not perfect" and acknowledged that "There may be some names on there who, it turns out, ultimately are citizens," while he said that was why DOJ asked California to cooperate. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber pushed back that DOJ failed to send the list of alleged noncitizens earlier and that there was not enough time to reconfirm the list before November 3.
Crackdown and political fallout
The Justice Department announced criminal charges against 28 green card holders in California accused of fraudulently registering to vote and casting illegal ballots, and the Guardian reported that the crackdown marked another escalation in federal efforts against alleged noncitizen voting.
“There may be some names on there who, it turns out, ultimately are citizens.”
Trent McCotter acknowledged that the government’s list might not be accurate when he said, "There may be some names on there who, it turns out, ultimately are citizens."
Bill Essayli, the acting U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, told reporters, "Electoral integrity is truly important to this Administration," and he said that if noncitizens are voting, "that dilutes the votes of American citizens."
Sen. Alex Padilla and New York Rep. Joseph Morelle said DOJ actions "raise serious and unprecedented questions about political weaponization," and they demanded information from Trent McCotter by 5 p.m. on Nov. 2.
The operation described by Telemundo as "Operation Protect the Vote" involved arrests of more than two dozen foreigners in California, and the DOJ said the arrested people were legal permanent residents, but not U.S. citizens with the right to vote.