The U.S. Justice Department expanded its efforts to intervene in California\u2019s ongoing election Friday, sending letters to county elections offices statewide with demands that they segregate ballots from voters the Trump administration believes are noncitizens.<\/p>\n
The letters \u2014 which give officials 48 hours to act and threaten them with criminal punishments if they refuse \u2014 follow similar correspondence<\/a> the Justice Department sent last week to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Dean Logan, head of the L.A. County registrar\u2019s office, calling for some 20,000 ballots statewide be set aside and left uncounted until state and local officials can prove that the voters are citizens.<\/p>\n When Weber and Logan balked, the Justice Department promptly sued them<\/a> and the state in a case currently pending in federal court. The California officials have contended the Justice Department\u2019s efforts are illegal. <\/p>\n The new letters, first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle<\/a>, follow previous threats<\/a> from Justice Department officials and President Trump warning that local California elections officials could face criminal prosecution for being \u201caiders and abettors to a federal crime\u201d if they tabulate votes from the \u201clikely noncitizens\u201d the administration has flagged. <\/p>\n A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney\u2019s office in Los Angeles said 57 of California\u2019s 58 counties were served the letters, with the exception of Los Angeles, which had already received a notice.<\/p>\n \u201cThe letters speak for themselves. Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy,\u201d First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, said in a statement.<\/p>\n Essayli wrote Friday evening on X that \u201cCalifornia does not verify citizenship status. We did the work for them. We obtained the registered voter list and told them who we believe are noncitizens on their rolls.\u201d<\/p>\n Essayli wrote that \u201cknowingly processing noncitizen ballots is a federal crime,\u201d and said authorities \u201cwill hold election officials accountable. No one is above the law.\u201d<\/p>\n The Justice Department did not respond to an inquiry from The Times. California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta\u2019s office declined to comment.<\/p>\n Santa Cruz County Clerk Tricia Webber, who is president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, said, \u201cFrom what I\u2019ve been able to gather, most counties if not all of the counties are doing what I\u2019m doing: Sat down with our counsel, went over everything,\u201d Webber said. <\/p>\n Webber said two people with Justice Department credentials showed up at her office Friday and handed her a manila envelope with the letter inside demanding she comply within 48 hours to determine the citizenship of 81 people in her county. <\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t tell you anything other than I\u2019m looking at it and doing my due diligence,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is not normal protocol for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Kristin Connelly, head of the Contra Costa County registrar\u2019s office, said she was also among those who received a letter. She said she had not yet responded as of late Friday, but was in contact with her county counsel and \u201ccolleagues around the state who received similar letters today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe non-partisan Contra Costa County Elections Division administers elections according to all state and federal election laws, as well as the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California. Our work is observable,\u201d Connelly said. \u201cThis threat is not helpful and is intended to intimidate.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter she received, from U.S. Atty. Craig Missakian, was full of threats of criminal punishment for tabulating votes from individuals whom the county is \u201con actual notice\u201d may not be U.S. citizens. <\/p>\n Missakian, the top federal prosecutor in the Northern District of California, wrote that he was providing Connelly with a \u201csubset\u201d of \u201c407 likely aliens\u201d from the broader statewide list of 20,000 voters, and demanded that Connelly commit within 48 hours to working with Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security officials to identify who among those 407 \u201cis a citizen and who is not.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat means sending us the nonpublic information associated with each suspected alien\u2019s registration, which includes everything in your possession from the following: a social security number, a copy of a state ID or driver\u2019s license or the information that appears on it, a copy of the voter registration application supporting the registration, and a copy or list of documents that were presented by the registrant at the time the person registered to vote or obtained their driver\u2019s license if registered as part of motor voter,\u201d Missakian wrote.<\/p>\n He also wrote that he was reaching out by letter \u201cto make unmistakably clear the legal implications of continuing to send vote-by-mail ballots to those people on the list or tabulating ballots cast by them until citizenship can be verified.\u201d<\/p>\n The Justice Department previously sued California for its voter records. A federal judge rejected the lawsuit, calling the demands a threat to democracy. The Justice Department has also lost similar cases demanding voter rolls in dozens of other states.<\/p>\n California Sen. Alex Padilla said in a statement Friday that, \u201cDonald Trump and Todd Blanche are trying to interfere in California elections.\u201d <\/p>\n Padilla, the ranking Democrat on the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which has oversight over federal elections, added: No matter how many lawsuits they file or how many election officials they threaten, they do not have the authority to interfere.\u201d<\/p>\n Padilla told local election officials, \u201cWe have your back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration is afraid and desperate,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir attempts to take over our elections will fail.\u201d<\/p>\n