DOJ Orders California Counties to Verify Ballots
Source reports published 24 Oct 2026, 12:54 pm – 25 Oct 2026, 12:49 am AEST
The Department of Justice has instructed several California counties to set aside and verify ballots suspected of being cast by non-citizens. This action follows a legal battle over the state's voter rolls and raises concerns about potential delays in election certification.
What happened
- Federal prosecutors issued letters to county registrars across California, demanding they verify ballots potentially cast by non-citizens.
- At least 18 counties received these letters, with a 48-hour deadline to provide identifying information for 1,133 individuals from the inland Southern California county flagged by the Justice Department.
- The DOJ’s action follows a lawsuit targeting Los Angeles County and the California Secretary of State’s office, aiming to prevent the counting of over 20,000 ballots of individuals deemed "likely" noncitizen voters.
- The Justice Department seeks social security numbers, ID information, and registration details for these suspected voters.
- California’s Secretary of State and the Los Angeles County registrar oppose the demands, arguing they threaten to delay vote certification and undermine election legitimacy.
- The federal government has already charged 28 individuals with illegally registering to vote and lying on naturalization paperwork, with potential prison sentences of years.