DOJ sues California to block votes from alleged non-citizens

Washington: The US Justice Department on Thursday sued California, asking a federal judge to block the state from counting mail ballots for the November midterm elections from more than 20,000 voters the Trump administration alleges are likely non-citizens.

The lawsuit comes after Reuters reported that the department gave California a 48-hour deadline on Tuesday to review a list of alleged non-citizen voters, provided on a thumb drive, that the department said had been sent mail-in ballots by California.

Also Read: US consumers are muscling through higher prices, but for how long?


Letters addressed to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan demanded that the state and county segregate returned mail-in ballots from voters on the Justice Department's list and not tabulate their votes "until citizenship has been determined."

In cases where ballots have not been sent out ⁠yet, the Justice Department ordered California officials to withhold them from those on the list until their citizenship is confirmed.

Also Read: Big Tech wants to build more AI data centres across America. Why local communities are pushing back against the costs of the AI revolution

The lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Central District of California, seeks a court order preventing California from "tabulating in federal elections vote-by-mail ballots received" from voters on the list, which the DOJ said included more than 20,000 voters, until their immigration status is verified.