Politics
California faces federal lawsuit over 20,000 voter-registration names
The Justice Department sued California on Oct. 15, two days after giving state election officials a list of 20,000 people it alleges may be noncitizens registered to vote. The dispute comes less than three weeks before the midterm elections and raises questions about how the state is being asked to review the names.
The U.S. Department of Justice sued California on Thursday, Oct. 15, seeking state action on a federal list of 20,000 people the department alleges may be noncitizens registered to vote.
The lawsuit came just two days after the federal government presented the names to California election officials, leaving the state little time to review them before the suit was filed. The filing marks the latest federal effort to influence how states manage voter registration rolls ahead of the midterm elections, which are less than three weeks away.
The allegations do not establish that the people on the list are noncitizens or that they voted unlawfully. The available details do not specify what evidence the federal government used to identify the names or what specific steps the lawsuit asks California to take.
The case puts the accuracy and handling of voter-registration data in focus as election officials prepare for the approaching vote. Any effort to remove people from voter rolls based on a list of alleged matches would require officials to determine whether the information is correct before taking action.