Federal courts block new moves, but prosecutors keep hunting for noncitizen voters

The Justice Department dropped its lawsuit against California last week, but federal prosecutors have not stopped asking for records from local election officials. County leaders in the state are now preparing for more legal pressure as the administration continues to search for noncitizens on voter rolls.

The conflict centers on how the federal government identifies and handles people it believes voted without citizenship. In the weeks before the election, the administration escalated its push to find fraud, particularly in California. Now, civil rights attorneys and election officials say the government will keep pursuing these cases despite recent legal losses.

James Williams, the county executive for Santa Clara County, said the administration is trying to find facts that do not exist. He stated, "So we fully are prepared to continue to deal with this." Williams noted that the drive to create issues from thin air does not appear to be slowing down.

Federal prosecutors have charged dozens of people with voting or registering without being citizens. However, noncitizen voting is rare compared to total voter numbers. The administration previously cited inflated figures, claiming in July that 250,000 noncitizens were registered in four states. Officials later admitted those numbers were a ceiling estimate.

In mid-October, federal officials sent California a list of 20,000 likely noncitizens. The Justice Department sued to stop the state from counting ballots from unverified voters. A federal judge and an appeals court rejected the request, and the Supreme Court declined to get involved. The government also sent grand jury subpoenas to several counties to get records about how they handled the Department of Justice's demands.

Todd Blanche, the U.S. Attorney General, said at a Thursday press conference that investigations into election integrity will continue both criminally and civilly. He said the effort was not expected to stop regardless of election results. However, Anna Baldwin, director of voting rights litigation at Campaign Legal Center, said recent court losses have created major obstacles for the administration.

A key ruling issued the night before Election Day found that the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security lack statutory authority to distribute noncitizen lists to election officials. The judge also said the action violated the Privacy Act. The government is expected to appeal. Another judge in October vacated the project to request unredacted voter rolls, finding the actions unlawful and disenfranchising to eligible voters.

San Luis Obispo District Attorney Dan Dow is investigating 63 potential noncitizen voters flagged by federal officials in his county. He has charged one individual so far. Dow said he had never been referred a noncitizen case before. Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Law School, expects a trickle of actual follow-through on these cases, noting that noncitizen voting happens but is not frequent.

The Justice Department has sent letters to every California county warning that officials who count ballots from identified noncitizens risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime. President Trump posted on Truth Social that these officials will all go to jail for a long period of time. Subpoenas have been sent to Los Angeles County and Bay Area counties to turn over records this month.

Data experts from the University of California Los Angeles analyzed the list of 20,000 names. They found that 42% did not appear on California's current voter roll and that naturalized citizens were included. Tricia Webber, the top election official in Santa Cruz County, reported that more than half of the 81 names in her county were not registered there. Some dates of birth were listed as future dates, such as 2044.

The Justice Department declined to comment on litigation or future plans in a statement. It said it would continue to enforce federal election laws based on the facts and the law. With Democrats now controlling Congress, lawmakers may hold hearings to probe how federal officials created their lists. David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the Department of Homeland Security will face serious scrutiny over its methodology.