Politics
Federal prosecutors demand California counties isolate ballots flagged for citizenship review
The Justice Department gave Contra Costa County’s elections chief 48 hours to review a list of more than 400 voters and set aside ballots from people on it. County officials said they had not decided whether to comply, amid a widening dispute over federal oversight of California elections.
The U.S. Department of Justice has sent letters to California county election officials demanding that they set aside ballots returned by voters the department suspects may not be U.S. citizens, escalating a dispute with the state over election administration.
In a letter sent Friday, Oct. 23, U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian, the Justice Department’s top prosecutor in Northern California, gave Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder Kristin B. Connelly 48 hours to review a list of more than 400 voters and verify their citizenship. The letter threatened legal action if the county did not immediately sequester ballots returned by people on the list.
Contra Costa County had not decided whether to comply, deputy county counsel Andrea L. Russi said. Connelly said the county was conducting the election under state and federal law and the U.S. and California constitutions. “Voters need to vote and not be intimidated,” she said.
The letters went to “some or all” California counties, Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan told members of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials in an email Friday.
The demand is the latest step in a widening conflict between California and the Trump administration over federal involvement in elections. The Justice Department sued California last week, asking a court to prevent the state from counting roughly 20,000 ballots it says may be fraudulent. A hearing on that request is scheduled for next week. The department has also threatened criminal prosecution for election officials who knowingly count ballots from fraudulent voters.
On Monday, federal prosecutors announced voter-fraud charges against 28 people. Twenty-three are accused of voting illegally, allegedly casting 34 ballots in elections dating to 2020, including one provisional ballot.
Separately, an Oakland-based federal judge on Wednesday barred the Department of Homeland Security from conducting voter-fraud investigations in several states. The judge’s order noted that the government’s methods for identifying potentially fraudulent voters have produced errors and wrongly flagged U.S. citizens.
The immediate question for Contra Costa is whether election staff can verify the citizenship of hundreds of people on the federal list within two days—and whether ballots will be held aside while that review takes place. The county had not announced a decision Friday.