The US Justice Department has sued California over allegations that more than 20,000 people suspected of being noncitizens are registered to vote, seeking a court order to prevent their mail-in ballots from being counted in the November 3 midterm elections until their citizenship status is verified.The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, accuses the state of failing to review a list of names provided by federal authorities who believe the individuals may be ineligible to vote in federal elections. The administration is asking a federal judge to require California to set aside ballots from those identified and verify their citizenship before counting them.The case is part of President Donald Trump’s broader push to increase federal oversight of elections ahead of the midterms, in which Republicans face a competitive fight to retain control of both chambers of Congress.According to the Justice Department, Homeland Security Investigations and other federal agencies examined publicly available voter registration records alongside immigration data to identify people considered likely to be noncitizens. The department said the review remains ongoing and described the findings as preliminary.The federal government said it had sent California officials a list of more than 20,000 people it believes are noncitizens who were sent mail-in ballots. It asked state officials to review the names and work with federal agencies to establish whether any were US citizens. The lawsuit alleges that California did not carry out the requested review.Attorney General Todd Blanche said the allegations raised concerns about election integrity and public confidence in the voting system.“State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America,” Blanche said. He added that if the state were found responsible in court, it would have undermined confidence in elections and violated laws protecting the country’s system of representative government.First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said California had been allowed to remove noncitizens from voter rolls and set aside ballots returned by people suspected of being ineligible, but had declined to do so.The lawsuit asks the court to require California to verify the citizenship of the individuals identified by federal authorities, either independently or in cooperation with federal agencies, before counting their mail ballots. It also seeks to prevent the state from tabulating those ballots until the checks are complete.DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said federal agencies had compared voter registration records with immigration data to identify potential noncitizen registrants. He said the analysis was preliminary and that further review was continuing.Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the complaint alleges that California was allowing noncitizens to vote in federal elections.
