Justice Department urges California counties to review voters’ citizenship before midterms
The Justice Department has ordered California counties to check the citizenship status of people it suspects may be registered noncitizens, escalating federal involvement in election administration days before the midterms. Officials are being asked to set aside affected mail ballots while checks are made, prompting concerns that eligible voters could be wrongly excluded.
The department gave counties 48 hours to investigate and requested Social Security numbers, identification records and registration documents, warning that non-cooperation could bring federal scrutiny. Its demands follow a lawsuit concerning more than 20,000 ballots; California officials say the federal information may be unreliable. Contra Costa County, which received a list of 407 names, said it would continue processing ballots normally.
In short
- Federal officials gave California counties 48 hours to check suspected noncitizen registrations.
- The DOJ wants affected ballots set aside while eligibility is reviewed.
- California officials warn unreliable data could affect eligible voters.
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The case for
The Justice Department can argue that verifying citizenship protects the integrity of federal elections and ensures that only eligible voters cast ballots. Prompt checks may be justified if officials have credible evidence of improper registrations, while requesting records and co-operation from counties could help resolve concerns consistently before votes are counted.
The case against
California officials and voting-rights advocates can argue that a short deadline and unverified lists risk wrongly delaying or excluding eligible citizens, especially when ballots are already being processed. They may also object that federal demands for sensitive records intrude on state and county election administration, and that safeguards and reliable evidence are needed before voters are singled out.
Explained simply
California residents register to vote through their county, which maintains voter records and runs elections. US citizens aged 18 or over can vote in federal elections, while non-citizens cannot; checking eligibility can involve comparing records that may contain errors or outdated information.
The US Justice Department is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal law, while California’s counties administer elections under state rules. Disputes over how voter records are checked involve both levels of government, and may affect whether ballots are counted while a person’s eligibility is assessed.
The issue matters because excluding an eligible voter’s ballot could affect that person’s right to vote. At the same time, election officials are required to apply the citizenship rules, so reliable records and a fair way to resolve doubts are important.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Trump administration demands California expose suspected ‘noncitizen’ voters in major escalation of crackdown on eve of midterms”.