Trump Administration Files Lawsuit Against California Over Mail-In Ballots

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against California and two election officials, alleging that ineligible voters received mail-in ballots for the upcoming November election. The lawsuit seeks to prevent approximately 20,000 ballots from being counted until the citizenship status of these voters is verified. Attorney General Todd Blanche stated, "State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America." He added that if California is found responsible in court, it would undermine confidence in the electoral system and violate laws protecting the nation's representative government. The Justice Department claims that California is knowingly allowing noncitizens to vote in federal elections. The lawsuit references a list of potentially ineligible voters compiled by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and ICE, using data from the Social Security Administration and the State Department. Previous attempts to use similar lists in states like Nevada, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey have been criticized for their accuracy. California's top election official and Los Angeles County's election chief received letters threatening "emergency action" regarding the verification of these voters. The Justice Department provided Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan with a password-protected thumb drive containing the list of over 20,000 voters, instructing him to verify their citizenship within 48 hours. Logan responded that maintaining accurate voter registration records is a fundamental responsibility of his office and that their response would comply with federal and state laws. Federal law restricts systematic voter roll maintenance within 90 days of a federal election to protect eligible voters from being removed before voting. This lawsuit follows previous legal attempts by the federal government to access California's voter rolls, which have been unsuccessful in court. Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the lawsuit, calling it a "sad, desperate attempt" by Trump to suppress California voters. He emphasized that the courts have established that the federal government has no role in state election processes and that local officials are effectively defending democracy.