California began sending ballots to more than 20 million registered voters on October 5, placing the dispute directly in the middle of the state’s election preparations.
DOJ Demands Immediate Review of Suspected Ineligible Voters
McCotter’s letters gave state and county officials just 48 hours to examine the list and determine whether the people identified by federal authorities are U.S. citizens.
The department’s requested procedure would not automatically invalidate the ballots in question. Instead, officials were instructed to separate ballots returned by individuals whose citizenship could not be independently confirmed and refrain from verifying their signatures or counting those ballots until their eligibility was resolved.
Officials were also instructed to withhold ballots from individuals on the list who had not yet received one.
The distinction is important: the federal government is seeking a review of potentially ineligible voters, not declaring every person identified on the list guilty of illegal voting.
McCotter made the administration’s position clear in his correspondence, emphasizing the potential consequences of allowing individuals who are not citizens to participate in federal elections.
“If you cannot implement this process by then, given the ongoing federal election, the United States will have no choice but to seek emergency relief,” the letter states.
McCotter also wrote that “Allowing noncitizens to vote cancels citizen votes.”
The Justice Department argues that federal election laws prohibit noncitizens from voting in federal contests. Its request is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to investigate voter eligibility and strengthen enforcement of citizenship requirements.
A department spokesperson defended the request, arguing that the underlying legal principle should not be controversial.
The spokesperson said the request “should not be controversial” because “only American citizens may vote in federal elections” and “it is a federal crime for noncitizens to vote.”
California Secretary of State Pushes Back
Weber rejected the federal government’s approach, arguing that the administration had previously made claims about California’s voter rolls without providing sufficient documentation to support them.
She pointed to allegations raised in July by President Donald Trump and then-identified DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin concerning approximately 190,000 alleged noncitizens on California’s voter registration lists.
“In July of this year, President Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin made (still) unsubstantiated claims that California had 190,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls. Given the many high-profile examples of states purging U.S. citizens from their voter rolls based on DHS/SAVE data, SOS immediately requested written information about their methodology and data sources to back up their claims. They refused and provided California with nothing,” Weber said in a statement, according to a report from Fox News.
Weber argued that California should not be expected to act on federal allegations without receiving enough information to evaluate their accuracy.
“Now the USDOJ, under threat of ‘emergency’ litigation, demands that California blindly trust this administration without any evidence or legal authority to justify its request,” she said.
Her objections highlight a fundamental disagreement between the two sides: federal officials are demanding swift action based on their investigation, while California officials insist that voter eligibility decisions must rely on independently verifiable information and established legal procedures.
Weber also defended the state’s existing election safeguards, maintaining that California law requires U.S. citizenship for voter registration and provides procedures for removing individuals who are not eligible to vote.
“The USDOJ’s relentless efforts to unlawfully gain access to states’ protected voter data and purge voter rolls serve only to cause chaos and fuel public distrust in our elections. California has robust state law requirements that only U.S. citizens can register to vote and that any non-eligible registrants are removed from the State’s voter rolls. My office and California election officials remain committed — as always — to ensuring a fair and smooth 2026 General Election.”
Los Angeles County Raises Security Concerns
Logan’s office has raised a separate objection concerning how the Justice Department delivered the information.
According to Logan, the federal letter included a USB drive and a handwritten note containing the password needed to access the records. His office declined to open the device, citing established security and privacy procedures.
“The letter included a USB drive purportedly containing the referenced records, along with a handwritten note providing a password. We have not accessed the drive because doing so would conflict with established data privacy and information security protocols. We do not consider the device a secure medium. Additionally, the letter does not specify the number of individuals involved or describe the information contained in the records,” Logan said in a statement.
The county’s refusal adds another obstacle to the federal government’s effort to obtain a quick review of the names.
Without examining the information, local officials say they cannot assess the records’ contents or determine whether the individuals identified are actually ineligible to vote.
At the same time, the Justice Department maintains that it has identified potential violations that warrant immediate attention before ballots are counted.
The dispute therefore involves two separate questions: whether the federal government’s list accurately identifies noncitizens and whether the requested process can be implemented lawfully and securely during an active election.
Supreme Court Ruling Adds Another Dimension
The confrontation follows a recent Supreme Court decision concerning the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, commonly known as SAVE.
Late last month, the high court allowed states, for the time being, to use the federal system to check voter eligibility after a lower court had blocked an expanded version of the program.
The system has become a central part of the administration’s efforts to identify potential noncitizens on voter registration lists. However, questions remain about how information from federal databases should be verified before election officials take action against individual registrants.
An identification in a database does not, by itself, establish that a person is a noncitizen or that the person illegally cast a ballot. Any review must distinguish potential discrepancies from confirmed ineligibility.
That distinction is particularly consequential when election officials are handling ballots that have already been mailed or returned.
President Trump has also signed an executive order directing the creation of a federal voter registration list and introducing proposed restrictions involving mail-in voting. Those initiatives have contributed to a wider legal and political debate over the respective roles of the federal government and the states in administering elections.
Legal Battle Moves Beyond the 48-Hour Deadline
The confrontation has now escalated beyond the initial warning. On October 15, the Justice Department announced that it had filed a lawsuit against California, alleging that more than 20,000 people identified as likely noncitizens were registered to vote in the state.
The federal government is seeking judicial intervention over the disputed voter records and the handling of ballots associated with the individuals it has identified. The filing represents a significant escalation from the department’s initial demand for a review within 48 hours. Source: U.S. Department of Justice
The lawsuit does not, by itself, establish that every individual identified by federal officials is ineligible or that any particular ballot was illegally cast. Those questions remain subject to verification and the legal proceedings.
The case also places renewed attention on the balance between enforcing federal voting laws and protecting eligible voters from errors in voter identification systems.
With Election Day approaching on November 3, the dispute could have implications for how election officials respond to federal eligibility investigations during an active voting period.
For the Justice Department, the priority is ensuring that federal elections remain restricted to eligible citizens. For California officials, the central concern is whether the government’s allegations are adequately substantiated and whether its demands comply with applicable law.
The court proceedings will now help determine how those competing positions are resolved and what procedures, if any, California must adopt before counting the affected ballots.
The broader question remains: how can election officials promptly investigate credible concerns about voter eligibility while ensuring that eligible Americans are not mistakenly prevented from having their votes counted?
