The administration of United States President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the state of California after the state did not meet a deadline to review a list of registered noncitizen voters. The lawsuit, submitted on Thursday in a US District Court in California, seeks to prevent the state from counting mail-in ballots from voters on a list that the Department of Justice (DOJ) claims contains 20,000 noncitizens. The DOJ stated that it had attempted to collaborate with California to identify noncitizens registered to vote, but claimed that California made no serious effort to do so.
The lawsuit follows a 48-hour deadline set by the DOJ for California to review lists of allegedly ineligible voters that the agency had shared. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber responded, stating that the administration's demands threaten the voting rights of thousands of Californians based on unverifiable information. She noted that while the DOJ claimed to have provided lists to local officials, no list was sent to her office.
Weber indicated that the DOJ had previously suggested that thousands of registered voters might be noncitizens, with the lawsuit filed earlier on the same day estimating the number at tens of thousands. She criticized the DOJ for demanding that California verify the citizenship status of approximately 20,000 individuals within 48 hours before the election, calling it an emergency created by the DOJ.
Election officials in Los Angeles County, which received the DOJ's ultimatum, highlighted the timing of the threat, occurring just 21 days before the midterm elections. They received a thumb drive with the DOJ's letter but chose not to access it due to security concerns. The county office emphasized that maintaining accurate voter lists is a fundamental responsibility, requiring verifiable information for any removals.
Trump has previously claimed that noncitizens are voting in large numbers in Democratic-led states, including California, a claim that state officials have refuted, stating the issue is negligible and does not warrant intervention close to the elections scheduled for November 3. California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the DOJ's lawsuit, labeling it a desperate attempt to suppress voters and asserting that the federal government has no role in state elections.
Earlier this month, a federal judge in Florida ruled that a federal law criminalizing voting by noncitizens was unconstitutional, stating that only individual states can set voter qualifications. This ruling could impact at least 45 pending cases nationwide where the DOJ is pursuing individuals for alleged noncitizen voting. Additionally, another federal judge ruled that the DOJ unlawfully sought state voter rolls to cross-check against a federal immigration database, which has been criticized for its inaccuracies.
In September, the US Supreme Court rejected a Trump administration effort to restrict mail-in ballots for the upcoming elections, which Trump argued were vulnerable to misuse by noncitizens. Two dozen states led by Democrats have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration over attempts to limit mail-in voting, including an executive order affecting the US Postal Service's handling of mail-in ballots. According to the Election Assistance Commission, around 30 percent of ballots cast in the 2024 elections were sent by mail, with even higher usage in states like California.