California election workers hit with criminal subpoenas as Trump DOJ turns up heat in voting showdown

The Justice Department has issued criminal grand jury subpoenas to at least four California election workers, seeking information about safeguards against non-citizen voting and evidence of unlawful voting. The subpoenas came amid a dispute over the administration’s demand that California set aside ballots linked to more than 20,000 voters whose citizenship it questions.

A federal judge rejected that demand and called for threats to state and county employees to stop; the Justice Department has appealed. The department says a subpoena does not mean its recipient is a target and argues that alleged non-citizen voting should be addressed through criminal law. The article says the administration has cited examples of non-citizens registered to vote but has not established widespread illegal voting, while many of the ballots in question have already been cast and anonymised.