DOJ orders California to vet suspected non-citizen voters within 48 hours
The Justice Department gave California election officials two days to review a list of voters it believes may be non-citizens and warned it will sue if the state does not comply.
In a Tuesday letter, acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter instructed California Secretary of State Shirley Weber to examine a list of registered voters the Justice Department believes are likely non-citizens. The list, delivered on a password-protected thumb drive to Los Angeles County officials, includes individuals who have been sent mail-in ballots. The DOJ requires the state to stop sending ballots to anyone on the list until their citizenship status is confirmed, and to segregate any ballots already returned from those names.
Those ballots must not be counted until verification is completed. The letter gives California 48 hours to comply and warns that, absent compliance, the federal government will seek emergency relief through the courts.
Why it matters
The demand could affect thousands of mail-in ballots and set a precedent for federal oversight of state voter rolls.
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