DOJ warns California officials counting flagged ballots risk prosecution

The lawsuit behind it: On Thursday the Justice Department sued California, Weber and Logan in federal court in Los Angeles. It asks a judge to bar the state from counting ballots from about 20,000 people that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Homeland Security Investigations flagged with "high confidence" as likely noncitizens, until their citizenship can be verified. The suit came after state and county officials did not meet a 48-hour deadline to review the names, which were delivered on a password-protected thumb drive. California mails a ballot to every registered voter, and voting for the Nov. 3 midterms is already underway.

The federal case: "State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America," Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in the Los Angeles area, wrote on X that "time is up for California" and "this is not political or controversial." Any criminal cases in the area would run through his office, AP noted. Fox News reported that a Sept. 25 Supreme Court emergency order lets states, for now, use the DHS citizenship-check tool known as SAVE.

California's case: Weber called the demand "an emergency of the DOJ's creation" and said the government has not explained why it suspects the listed people are noncitizens, the Los Angeles Times reported. Logan said his office "cannot withhold or refuse to count ballots based solely on unverified allegations." Gov. Gavin Newsom called the suit an attempt "to suppress California voters," and Attorney General Rob Bonta called it "meritless." UCLA law professor Rick Hasen told AP the new letter "ups the ante by threatening election officials with potential criminal prosecution."

Timeline: In July, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told California more than 190,000 noncitizens might be registered there. On Oct. 13, McCotter gave Weber and Logan 48 hours to set aside flagged ballots. On Oct. 15, the department sued over about 20,000 names. On Oct. 16, it warned of possible prosecution. In Nevada, AP reported, a federal claim of 1,500 noncitizen voters turned out to be zero after the state checked the names.

What's still unknown: Who is on the list and how the matches were made, why the federal estimate fell from 190,000 to about 20,000 (DHS did not answer the LA Times on that), and whether a judge will act before Election Day. A separate emergency petition from the UCLA Voting Rights Project, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeks to block the department's moves.

The Justice Department and Homeland Security say about 20,000 people on California's rolls are "likely" noncitizens, but they have not released the list or the method publicly, and no court has ruled on the claim. The AP obtained Friday's letter first; Fox News (right-leaning) and the Los Angeles Times covered the earlier demand and lawsuit. State and county offices had not commented on Friday's letter when AP published.