REDDING, Calif. — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security began a voter fraud investigation in nine states, including California, on Tuesday.
California is one of nine states being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security for alleged voter fraud.
The DHS is utilizing the Homeland Security Investigations agency to audit states’ voter rolls for noncitizens who may have illegally voted or registered to vote. The investigation will last through the middle of October, ending shortly before November’s midterm elections.
READ MORE | California Secretary of State responds to federal voter fraud investigation push
FILE – Voting station. (KRCR)
The Department of Justice generally cautions against investigative steps in ballot-fraud cases while an election is underway because that can impact voting and campaigns, but the investigation is being done by Homeland Security Investigations, which is a part of DHS, not the Justice Department. New DHS guidance does not address the same restrictions cautioning against witness interviews, subpoenas, search warrants and surveillance.
The Trump Administration has claimed that up to 250,000 noncitizens may have registered to vote across California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Nevada. This number does not represent the number of illegal ballots cast, and election officials have not confirmed this number.
According to CNN, experts say there is no evidence that widespread voter fraud has occurred in recent elections.
In Shasta County, voters have mixed opinions on whether voter fraud is something that requires an investigation in California. The other states being investigated are Washington, Wisconsin, Missouri, Georgia, California, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York and Connecticut.
The California Secretary of State’s Office declined to comment on what it called the federal “prosecution ‘surges,’” but said California already has safeguards to verify voter identity. “California already has a system of checks designed to verify the identity of voters,” the office said. It said voters must attest under penalty of perjury that they are U.S. citizens and eligible to vote when registering.
The office said providing false information can carry serious immigration and criminal consequences. CLICK HERE to read the office’s full response.
—