Trump Threatens ‘Jail’ In California Midterm Election Fight

President Donald Trump has warned California election officials that they may face jail time if they count ballots cast by individuals the administration considers to be noncitizens. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated that "they will all go to jail for a long period of time" if they proceed with counting ballots from alleged noncitizens.

This threat follows the Department of Justice's (DOJ) filing of a lawsuit against California, which is refusing to review a list of over 20,000 names that the department alleges are likely noncitizens. The state has been given 48 hours to discard the ballots of anyone whose citizenship status cannot be confirmed, but California has declined to do so, arguing that the list is not secure or substantiated.

In response to the DOJ's lawsuit, California officials, including Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Clerk Dean Logan, have argued that complying with the request would violate federal law, citing the National Voter Registration Act and less than three weeks before the election. The DOJ's lawsuit claims that rejecting the list shows the state's "total lack of commitment to work with the Federal Government to protect the integrity of our elections" and could lead to federal criminal prosecution for those who count ballots cast by suspected noncitizens.