USAupdated 1h ago3 min read
Trump Administration Warns Los Angeles County Officials Over Noncitizen Ballot Tabulation
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Federal prosecutors charged 28 people with illegal registration or voting under Operation Protect the Vote. Eleven arrests occurred as of Monday during the nationwide sweep in California.
DOJ targets noncitizen voting
The Trump administration escalated its fight with California ahead of the next month’s midterm election by warning that local officials who process and tabulate ballots submitted by suspected noncitizen voters risk criminal investigation and potential prosecution. Trent McCotter, the acting deputy attorney general at the Justice Department, warned in a letter that “Noncitizen voting in a federal election is a federal crime — and knowingly facilitating such conduct is equally unlawful.” The Justice Department also warned that if persons “knowingly tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens, they risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime,” and the letter was addressed to the Los Angeles County Counsel’s office and copied to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan.
The Justice Department’s warning came as the administration sued California to prevent it from counting mail ballots from people the federal government has identified as “likely” noncitizens until their immigration status can be confirmed. Trent McCotter said the administration’s campaign is aimed at ensuring integrity in elections, and the arrests and charges were framed as part of that broader effort.
Operation Protect the Vote
Federal officials announced charges against 28 people accused of illegally registering to vote and, in some cases, casting ballots in California elections as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s statewide “Operation Protect the Vote” initiative.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said, “We are announcing charges against 28 non-citizens who illegally registered to vote, and many of which actually voted in prior elections,” as arrests began early Monday across California.
Trent McCotter said at a news conference that 28 people, all of them green card holders, or legal immigrants with residency status, had been charged, and officials added that 11 had already been arrested.
The Justice Department said the 28 people charged were identified from a list of approximately 20,000 people believed to be noncitizens that was provided last week to California’s secretary of state and the Los Angeles County registrar.
The Los Angeles Times reported that authorities said 11 of the 28 were arrested as of Monday morning and that the 17 others “will be in custody in the near future.”
California pushes back
California officials and local leaders rejected the federal actions as an attempt to undermine trust in the midterm elections, with Janice Hahn calling the arrests “voter intimidation and a blatant attempt to undermine trust in our midterm elections.” Hahn added that the arrests were “being used to paint a picture of widespread voter fraud when we know that is not the case,” and California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said the 28 individuals charged represented a “tiny fraction” of California’s 23 million registered voters. Trent McCotter said the arrests should “ensure integrity in elections, not undermine them,” and he said the administration was seeking a court order to separate any mail-in ballots those people may have submitted for the current election.
The Seattle Times reported that California officials greeted the administration’s claims with great skepticism, accusing the Trump administration of seeking to sow doubt and meddle in an election in which voting had already started. The dispute now centers on whether ballots from about 20,000 voters the Justice Department considers “likely noncitizens” will be set aside, with the Justice Department suing California and Los Angeles County after California resisted the demand.