WASHINGTON (TNND) — With early voting already underway, President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is pressing ahead with aggressive legal action in California and Alaska.
Trump DOJ presses case over California and Alaska election rules as early voting begins
In California, the Justice Department is suing the state in an effort to block 20,000 ballots it describes as being tied to “likely non-citizens” from being counted. Justice Department attorney Matthew Donnelly said Sunday the federal government has provided the state with information it believes should trigger additional steps before those ballots are included in the count.
“We have given them credible evidence, and we believe that puts an obligation on them to at least segregate the ballots so that they can determine whether or not they are citizens or not,” Donnelly said.
The case drew a rare Sunday session for a California appeals court. During the hearing, Judge Mark Bennett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit questioned the Justice Department’s request.
“It seems to me you want us to issue an injunction that is entirely inconsistent with the law the California legislature has adopted,” Bennett said.
In court filings, the Los Angeles County registrar stated it does not have direct access to federal citizenship data. Asked about California’s ability to verify eligibility, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, told KCRA the state’s process is focused on the point of registration.
“When it comes to California elections, citizenship and eligibility is determined on the front end when people initially register to vote,” Padilla said.
Republicans, however, argue that verification is not actually taking place.
In a post on X, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote, “Attestation is not verification. Ensuring only citizens vote isn’t political; it’s enforcing state and federal law.”
Meanwhile in Alaska, President Donald Trump said he ordered the Justice Department to file a lawsuit because of confusion that may occur in a ranked-choice voting system due to a candidate with the same name as the Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan, appearing on the ballot.
They found a guy named Daniel Sullivan. They put his name on. In fact, he later on tried to change his middle initial so that it was the same as Daniel S. I think it’s a disgrace,” Trump said.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said Alaska election officials, not the White House, have raised concerns about the second candidate’s intent.
“The head of the Alaska election commission, not President Trump, not me, has said that the second Dan Sullivan is running solely to confuse voters and pull votes away from the incumbent Senator,” Blanche said.
On Monday, the DOJ announced charges involving 48 people it says are undocumented immigrants, including from in Pennsylvania, Florida, New York and Nevada, in connection with illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration and related election crimes.