The Trump administration sued California election officials on Thursday, October 15th, seeking to prevent the state from counting mail-in ballots cast by more than 20,000 people the federal government suspects may be noncitizens ahead of the November 3rd midterm elections.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed the lawsuit after California officials failed to meet a 48-hour deadline to review a federal list of suspected noncitizens and take steps to withhold their ballots until their citizenship could be verified.Â
The list was delivered to Los Angeles County officials on a password-protected thumb drive.
The Justice Department accused California of failing to cooperate with federal efforts to protect election integrity and asked a federal judge to block the counting of the flagged ballots until citizenship is confirmed.
California officials challenged the federal government’s claims, questioning the accuracy of its data and the legality of its demands.Â
Secretary of State Shirley Weber said the federal government previously claimed that as many as 190,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in California but had not provided sufficient information to support its figures.
Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan also raised concerns about the security of the thumb drive containing the names.
Noncitizens are prohibited from voting in federal elections.Â
However, election officials and voting experts have warned that inaccurate citizenship records could lead to eligible American citizens being wrongly flagged.
The lawsuit intensifies the legal battle between the Trump administration and Democratic-led California over federal oversight of elections just weeks before voters head to the polls.
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