Justice Department Sues California Over Voter Rolls

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against California seeking to temporarily block the state from counting mail ballots from voters the administration claims are likely noncitizens. According to The New York Times, this legal action represents a new front in the administration's disputes with election officials.

The Atlantic reports that since September 2025, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has filed lawsuits against 30 states and the District of Columbia to compel the handover of sensitive voter information. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon stated that examining these records is a top priority to help the department identify alleged voting by noncitizens and prevent voter fraud.

While the administration intends to use the data for these purposes, The Atlantic notes that a group of Democratic secretaries of state expressed concern in a letter to the Justice Department regarding plans to share this information with the Department of Homeland Security. To date, the Justice Department has secured zero victories in this litigation.

Brief written by urgent.news from The New York Times, The Atlantic — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.