US justice department sues California over alleged noncitizen voting

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit against California election officials on Thursday, requesting a judge to prevent the state from counting mail-in ballots for the upcoming midterm elections from individuals the federal government has deemed "likely" noncitizens until their citizenship status can be verified. This comes after a top Justice Department official sent California a letter expressing potential legal action if the state did not review a password-protected thumb drive containing names of individuals believed to be noncitizens who received ballots for the Nov. 3 election.

California mails ballots to all registered voters. Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan stated that his office received the letter and thumb drive, along with a password, this week. However, he expressed concerns about the thumb drive's security, as the password was written on a sticky note. The secretary of state's office asserted that the thumb drive was not a secure device.

The lawsuit claims that the federal government attempted to "collaboratively" work with California to identify noncitizens registered to vote. California reportedly did not make a "serious effort" to do so. The lawsuit asserts that the United States seeks "commonplace election relief" when a ballot is called into question, and seeks the court to "enjoin California from presently tabulating vote by-mail ballots from likely noncitizens in the upcoming federal election until the voter's citizenship status can be determined."

The secretary of state's office suggested that the federal government's outreach had not been collaborative. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a Democrat, noted that the Department of Homeland Security claimed California had 190,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls in the summer, but refused to provide methodology or data sources when asked.

California's Secretary of State and Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom dismissed the request as "more dangerous nonsense from a President losing his grip on reality," emphasizing that California's elections are not controlled by Donald Trump, and vowed to ensure every California voter can participate in a free and fair election.