Los Angeles County election officials have told a federal court that the U.S. Justice Department's list of about 20,000 people in California described as 'likely noncitizens' registered to vote is 'unreliable,' after a preliminary check found that some of the people on it had indicated they were born in the United States. The details were disclosed in court filings on Tuesday, October 20, as California and county officials answered a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to force the state to investigate the names before their ballots are counted.
Source: NPR, via KNKX
The Justice Department wants California to segregate ballots associated with the listed individuals. State officials argued in their filing that doing so this close to the November 3 midterm elections would be unfeasible and would likely break state and federal election law. 'At best, this litigation is a reckless political stunt,' the state wrote. 'At worst, it threatens to disenfranchise thousands of Californians this election.'
Source: NPR, via KNKX
What the county's sample check found
Registrar Dean Logan told the court that of the roughly 20,000 names on the statewide list, only 7,035 had Los Angeles County addresses, and some entries were duplicates. County officials then sampled 200 names to test the list's accuracy. According to the county's filings, 25.8% of the sampled records listed a place of birth in the United States — which the county called a strong indicator of citizenship — and among records where birthplace was meaningfully reported, the U.S.-born share was 38.9%.
Source: Democracy Docket, reporting the county court filings
The review also found that 42.9% of the sampled registrations had already been cancelled and another 4.6% were inactive, leaving only 42.4% active. More than 71% of the sampled individuals had never voted, and only about 45% had actually been mailed a ballot for the current election, the county said.
Source: Democracy Docket
How the list reached the county — and the DOJ's reply
According to the filings, the dispute escalated last week when the Justice Department delivered the list — drawn from Department of Homeland Security investigators — to Los Angeles County on a thumb drive. County staff at first declined to open it, citing the security risk of an unknown device, and received the same list the next day as an emailed spreadsheet. The DOJ had given California 48 hours to separate ballots cast by anyone on the list unless citizenship could be verified; the state refused, and the department sued.
Source: ENM News, reporting the court filings
Responding to the county's analysis, DOJ deputy press secretary Kiersten Pels said in a statement: 'California cannot facilitate the violation of federal law. We notified California that noncitizens are likely registered to vote, and we asked the state to independently verify the citizenship of any ballots cast by people on a list that we provided. It refused to do so. Federal law doesn't permit this willful blindness.' On Monday the DOJ also announced criminal charges against 28 people said to be on the list; all 28 were legal permanent residents (green-card holders), a case Awaaz Punjab reported separately.
Source: NPR, via KVCR
What is solid
- The DOJ sent California a list of about 20,000 people it calls 'likely noncitizens' registered to vote, and sued to force an investigation and ballot segregation before the November 3 elections.
- LA County sampled 200 names and told the court the list is 'unreliable': only 7,035 names had county addresses, some were duplicates, and nearly half the sampled registrations were already cancelled or inactive.
What is only claimed
- The DOJ's claim that the listed people are noncitizens — the county's sample found about a quarter of records listed a U.S. birthplace, which it called a strong indicator of citizenship, though a listed birthplace alone does not by itself prove citizenship in every case.
- Whether acting on the list now would protect election integrity (the DOJ's position) or disenfranchise eligible voters and break election law (California's position) — the court has yet to rule.
Why it matters for immigrant communities: California is home to one of the largest immigrant populations in the United States, including a large Punjabi and Indian-American community. If a federal list wrongly flags naturalised or U.S.-born citizens, their ballots could be set aside weeks before an election. The court has not yet ruled, and Awaaz Punjab will follow the case.