DOJ Gives California 48 Hours to Scrutinize Alleged Noncitizen Mail Ballots

The Justice Department has given California election officials 48 hours to review a federal list of people it says are likely noncitizens who received mail ballots for the Nov. 3 midterms—or face emergency court action—escalating a nationwide push over voter rolls weeks after ballots already went out.

In an Oct. 13 letter reviewed by CBS News and first reported by Reuters, acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter told California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan that the department had provided a password-protected thumb drive with names the federal government “believes are likely noncitizens” who were sent vote-by-mail ballots.

Segregate, don’t cancel, ballots

McCotter instructed officials to determine the citizenship status of each person on the list within 48 hours. For anyone whose citizenship cannot be independently confirmed, he asked counties to “segregate — not cancel” returned mail ballots until status is resolved, and to withhold ballots not yet sent until citizenship is confirmed.

“Allowing noncitizens to vote cancels citizen votes,” McCotter wrote. The letter warned that if California does not comply, the federal government “will have no choice but to seek emergency relief.” A Los Angeles County spokesperson confirmed receiving the letter; similar notices went to other California counties, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The demand follows a July warning from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that federal officials believed noncitizens appeared on California’s rolls. The Civil Rights Division under Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has filed dozens of lawsuits seeking unredacted voter lists nationwide and has said it intends to share data with DHS for noncitizen screening. Courts have blocked most of those efforts to date.

Timing fuels pushback

California mailed ballots to all registered voters on Oct. 5. Election-law experts questioned why the Justice Department waited until after ballots were in the mail and so close to Election Day, noting past federal claims of noncitizen registrations have often included errors.

Voting-rights scholars have long said proven noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare and insufficient to swing statewide outcomes. A recent Reuters analysis found states may have added more than 30,000 self-declared noncitizens to rolls since 2000 through driver’s-license software glitches and clerical mistakes—a small share of roughly 174 million registered voters in 2024.

Since President Donald Trump took office, the Justice Department says it has charged more than 100 people with voter-fraud-related crimes. California officials have not yet detailed how they will respond to the 48-hour deadline, but the standoff adds another flashpoint to a midterm season already dominated by fights over monitoring, citizenship checks, and federal involvement in state election administration.

Update: Justice Department sues California

Oct. 15, 2026 — The Justice Department filed suit against California election officials on Thursday, asking a federal judge to bar the state from tabulating vote-by-mail ballots from people the federal government has identified as “likely” noncitizens until their status can be determined. The complaint, which names Secretary of State Shirley Weber, says California “made no serious effort” to work with federal officials after receiving the list of roughly 20,000 names and seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions.

Weber wrote to the department that it had offered no evidence for its claims and called the demands “an emergency of the DOJ’s creation,” noting that federal officials earlier flagged nearly 16,000 possible noncitizens in Nevada, all of whom the state found to be citizens. Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan said the list arrived on a thumb drive with a handwritten password, which he did not consider secure. Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state would not withhold ballots, pointed out that a DHS estimate of 190,000 noncitizens had shrunk to 20,000, and argued the federal demand violates a law barring changes to voter rolls within 90 days of an election.

Update: DOJ threatens prosecution of election officials

On Oct. 16, acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter sent a letter — obtained first by the Associated Press — to the Los Angeles County Counsel’s office, with copies to Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Registrar Dean Logan. It warned that noncitizen voting in a federal election is a federal crime and that “knowingly facilitating such conduct is equally unlawful,” including by tabulating ballots cast by people identified by federal agencies as noncitizens.

Logan replied that his office is focused on a fair, secure election 18 days from Election Day and that “it is best for this to be addressed in court.” UCLA election-law professor Rick Hasen said the letter “ups the ante by threatening election officials with potential criminal prosecution.” Former Justice Department official Justin Levitt argued courts have not accepted the department’s theory and that election officials are equipped to resist what he called aggressive bullying.

Trump shared coverage of the letter on Truth Social late Friday and wrote that officials “will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!” The warning follows the department’s lawsuit seeking to block counting of mail ballots tied to a federal list of about 20,000 alleged likely noncitizens.

Update: Federal charges filed against 28 California residents

Oct. 19, 2026 — The Justice Department announced criminal charges against 28 lawful permanent residents across California, accusing them of falsely claiming citizenship to register to vote and, in most cases, voting. Eleven were arrested on Monday. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said each defendant appears on the list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants the department sent the state on Oct. 13, and prosecutors asked the judge in the ballot lawsuit to order the state to segregate ballots that may already have been mailed to suspected noncitizens. California officials continue to reject the department’s claims, and election experts say noncitizen voting is extremely rare. Full story here.