The Justice Department sued California Thursday, seeking to block the counting of mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters federal officials suspect are noncitizens.
California, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan are named as defendants in the complaint. The department wants the federal court in California’s Central District to require citizenship checks before those ballots are counted.
California disputes the demand. In a statement Wednesday, Weber’s office said federal officials had not supplied evidence or legal authority to justify the requested action ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.
The allegation that the listed voters are noncitizens has not been independently verified. Receiving a ballot does not establish that someone voted.
Attorney General Todd Blanche accused California of facilitating voter fraud, saying the state had refused federal requests to correct its records and separate ballots from suspected ineligible voters.
“State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America.”
In a post on X, Blanche said the emergency court action sought to prevent noncitizens who received ballots from voting. California sends mail ballots automatically to active registered voters, including those who have not requested one.
Weber said only U.S. citizens can legally register to vote in California. She said state law also requires election officials to remove people who are ineligible.
“My office and California election officials remain committed – as always – to ensuring a fair and smooth 2026 General Election,” Weber said.
The department filed suit two days after Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter sent Weber an Oct. 13 letter, giving her office 48 hours to review the list and act.
McCotter wrote that federal officials had given Los Angeles County’s elections office a password-protected thumb drive containing the names. He offered to send Weber’s office a digital copy if it provided a secure email address.
Weber’s office said Wednesday that DOJ had not given it the list directly, yet expected it to obtain the names, investigate and act within two days. The office said the county received the drive with its password on a sticky note.
The letter asked California to check whether citizens were on the list and set aside ballots from anyone whose citizenship could not be confirmed. It also asked officials to withhold ballots not yet mailed and pause signature checks or counting for returned ballots until citizenship was determined.
McCotter gave the state until noon Eastern time Oct. 15 to put those steps in place, warning that the government would otherwise seek emergency court relief. That deadline was 19 days before Election Day.
DOJ said it worked with the Department of Homeland Security to compare publicly available California voter-registration files with federal immigration records.
The complaint describes several rounds of review. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services used software to match identities, then checked for naturalization, citizenship through parents and information in State Department records. Homeland Security Investigations conducted further checks.
Weber’s office also challenged an earlier federal claim that California had 190,000 noncitizens on its rolls. After that claim in July, she said, her office asked for the methodology and data sources but received neither.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office called the federal action an attempt by President Donald Trump to suppress California voters three weeks before the election. It pledged to defend the state’s elections.
DOJ argues that California’s refusal to act obstructs enforcement of the federal ban on noncitizen voting. The complaint requests preliminary and permanent injunctions barring the counting of flagged mail ballots until citizenship is verified.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the findings were preliminary and the review remained underway.
