California Counties Challenge Federal Lists of Alleged Noncitizen Voters
The Justice Department has demanded that California counties review lists of people it says may be noncitizens registered to vote, and set aside their ballots while citizenship is checked. Counties were given 48 hours to respond, while federal officials warned that knowingly counting ballots cast by people identified as noncitizens could bring criminal prosecution. The effort is part of a federal claim that about 20,000 California voters may be noncitizens, which the state disputes in court.
Butte County Clerk-Recorder Keaton Denlay said a federal agent delivered a letter and a paper list identifying 47 people. The letter misspelled his name, and Denlay said the two pages appeared to duplicate one another, listing 46 names with one repeated. Of the 45 distinct names, 32 were not on the county’s active voter rolls and had not been sent ballots. Seven lacked enough identifying information for a confident match, leaving six who might be ineligible.
Denlay described the list as poorly formatted, with missing and jumbled details. He said California law requires strong evidence to challenge a voter’s eligibility and concluded the federal list did not meet that standard. He declined to take further action on it.
Other county officials raised similar concerns. San Benito County’s registrar said some of 33 names provided to his office were not registered voters. Fresno County’s registrar said the list he received was difficult to read and review, while Orange County’s registrar said a letter addressed to another official reached his office later. Federal prosecutor Bill Essayli maintained in court that the government’s broader list was reliable. A federal judge appeared skeptical of the administration’s legal arguments as the dispute continued.
Faulty Federal Voter Lists Put California Ballots at Risk
The Justice Department is pressing California counties to set aside ballots based on a federal list of people it says may be noncitizens. But the first-hand checks described by county officials point to a dangerous gap between the government’s allegations and its evidence: Butte County found that 32 of 45 distinct names were not on its active voter rolls, while seven could not be confidently matched.
The federal demand came with a 48-hour deadline and a warning of possible criminal prosecution for officials who knowingly count ballots cast by people federal agencies identify as noncitizens. Denlay said the list was poorly formatted, incomplete and inconsistent with the letter’s claim that it contained 47 names. He declined to act, saying the information did not meet California’s requirement for extraordinary proof when a voter’s eligibility is challenged.
Other registrars also described hard-to-use lists, and San Benito County said some names it received belonged to people who were not registered there. The administration’s claim that about 20,000 California voters may be noncitizens is being contested by state officials, who argue the federal effort risks disenfranchising eligible voters and intrudes on state election administration.
Federal prosecutor Bill Essayli stood by the broader list in court, but a judge appeared skeptical of the administration’s legal arguments. The federal government’s demand for rushed action should not outweigh the evidence counties can actually verify or the safeguards protecting voters’ ballots.
California Officials Resist Federal Review of Suspected Noncitizen Voters
The Justice Department says about 20,000 California voters may be noncitizens and has sued to stop their ballots from being counted until citizenship is verified. It has also told counties to review names on federal lists and segregate certain ballots, warning officials about potential criminal consequences for knowingly counting ballots cast by people identified as noncitizens.
County officials have focused on flaws in the information they received. In Butte County, Denlay said a list said to contain 47 names had 46 entries across two duplicate pages, including one repeated name. He found 32 distinct names were not on the active voter rolls, seven lacked enough information to check, and six might be ineligible. Denlay said the list did not satisfy California’s standard for challenging a voter and took no further action.
Registrars in other counties also described lists that were difficult to review, and San Benito County said some people on its list were not registered voters. Those problems deserve scrutiny, but they do not resolve the federal government’s underlying concern about whether noncitizens are registered. Federal prosecutor Bill Essayli maintained that the larger list was reliable in court.
The dispute now pits the federal effort to verify eligibility against California’s insistence that its election rules and evidentiary standards govern. A judge appeared skeptical of the administration’s legal arguments, while the conflict over the lists and ballot handling continued.
Reported by CalMatters, The Guardian US, Raw Story.
