Federal Authorities Charge 28 in California Noncitizen Voting Sweep as Lawsuit Seeks to Set Aside 20,000 Ballots

LOS ANGELES - Federal prosecutors on Monday charged 28 lawful permanent residents across California with election-related crimes, including fraudulent voter registration and making false statements on naturalization applications, in a coordinated operation officials dubbed "Protect the Vote." Eleven of the defendants were taken into custody that day, with the remainder expected to be arrested soon, according to the Department of Justice.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said all 28 individuals appeared on a list of more than 20,000 "likely noncitizen" registrants that federal officials provided to California election authorities last week on a password-protected thumb drive. Officials stated that 21 of the 28 are suspected of having cast ballots in one or more elections, some multiple times. The defendants, who hold green cards but are not U.S. citizens, face charges that can carry up to five years in prison. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The charges came amid an escalating dispute between the Trump administration and California officials. On or about October 13, the Justice Department sent the list to Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan, giving them 48 hours to review the names and set aside associated mail ballots pending citizenship verification. When that deadline passed without the requested action, the DOJ sued the state, seeking a court order to segregate ballots from the roughly 20,000 individuals until their status could be confirmed. The department also sought emergency relief ahead of the November 3 midterm election.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed opposition papers on Tuesday, describing the lawsuit as a "reckless political stunt" that "borders on the absurd" and threatens to disenfranchise legitimate voters so close to Election Day. State officials have noted that the 28 charged individuals represent roughly 0.0001 percent of California's approximately 23 million registered voters and have questioned the accuracy of the federal list. Secretary of State Weber and others have said prior similar claims in other states did not hold up and that a sample review by Los Angeles County identified accuracy problems with the data.

Federal officials have maintained that the list was compiled by cross-referencing publicly available voter rolls with federal immigration and other government databases, after excluding individuals with clear evidence of citizenship. McCotter and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli have argued that California's refusal to review the list risks counting illegal votes and that election workers who knowingly process ballots from noncitizens could face potential liability. On October 20, the Los Angeles Times reported that a Homeland Security official claimed investigators had identified an additional approximately 17,000 California voter records potentially linked to noncitizens beyond the original list.

Some of those arrested have appeared in court; reports indicate that several defendants told reporters they did not recall registering to vote or casting ballots, or said they were unaware the activity was prohibited. Voting by mail is already underway in California, with ballots having been mailed to registered voters earlier this month.

The criminal cases and the parallel civil lawsuit remain pending. No ruling has been reported on the Justice Department's request for an emergency order to segregate the broader set of ballots. Nationwide, the department has said it has charged 113 people with similar voting-related offenses in 20 states over the past several weeks.

California officials have repeatedly stated that noncitizen voting occurs only in isolated cases and that existing safeguards are sufficient. Federal authorities counter that even limited instances dilute the votes of citizens and that the recent charges demonstrate the need for verification before ballots are counted.