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DOJ's Noncitizen Voter List in California Found Flawed
· Confirmed
In Short: The Justice Department's list of alleged noncitizens registered to vote in California has been found to include a high percentage of individuals who were born in the United States and have no voting history, according to a preliminary analysis by Los Angeles County officials.
The officials found that nearly 40% of the individuals on the list indicate they were born in the U.S., which is strong evidence of citizenship, and 71.2% of the records have no voting history.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber criticized the DOJ's demand, saying it was based on unverifiable information and threatened thousands of Californians' right to vote.
The DOJ's batch of roughly 20,000 supposedly ineligible voters is a significant reduction from the 190,000 that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin alleged were registered in the state back in July.
The lawsuit comes after the Justice Department said California officials failed to meet a 48-hour deadline to review a password-protected thumb drive that contains a list of 20,000 names.
In a statement Thursday, Logan said his office can’t withhold ballots or refuse to count them “based solely on unverified allegations.” Over 23 million people are registered statewide, and there are a handful of competitive congressional races in other California districts that could determine which party has control of the U.S.
The Trump Justice Department is forcing California to review a list of possible noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls or face legal action.
The Attorney General also has the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (CRA) at her disposal to demand the production, inspection, and analysis of the statewide voter registration lists.
The amicus brief pushed back on the 9th Circuit’s conclusion that Arizona cannot conduct a systematic program to remove noncitizens from voter rolls during the NVRA’s 90-day pre-election period.
"What happened to those 170,000. They just got those wrong," Bonta said.
"This is an emergency of the DOJ’s creation." In a statement on Wednesday, election officials in Los Angeles County, one of the county offices that received the ultimatum from the DOJ, pointed out the threat was issued just 21 days before midterm elections.
The analysis by Los Angeles officials adds to the skepticism about the DOJ's list, suggesting that a significant portion of the individuals flagged as noncitizens may actually be eligible to vote.
The lawsuit and the DOJ's demand for immediate action have raised concerns about voter suppression and the integrity of the electoral process.
Background
The Trump Justice Department is forcing California to review a list of possible noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls or face legal action.
What's confirmed
- California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said DOJ was “demanding unprecedented measures that threaten thousands of Californians' right to vote, based on unverifiable information."
- The lawsuit comes after the Justice Department said California officials failed to meet a 48-hour deadline to review a password-protected thumb drive that contains a list of 20,000 names.
- “If you cannot implement this process by then, given the ongoing federal election, the United States will have no choice but to seek emergency relief,” the letter states.
What's still developing
- The report also found that, among G20 countries, the U.S. is tied with Russia for the highest per capita emissions.
- State and local officials disclosed these new details in court filings yesterday, in response to a federal lawsuit demanding that California investigate thousands of voters before their ballots are counted.
- I should mention that the administration has offered to “help” California and work together in cooperative fashion to vet the administration’s crappy list, but it’s too precious an offer to need its own debunking: “We’re not perfect and that’s why we’ve asked California to cooperate with us,” acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said in a Monday press conference, anticipating exactly what happened yesterday.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the Department of Justice’s suit “a sad, desperate attempt” by the White House to suppress California voters weeks before Election Day.
- The DOJ’s lawsuit also takes aim at the state’s signature verification processes for mail-in ballots, something a Republican-led ballot measure, Proposition 39, would rework along with imposing voter ID requirements if approved by a majority of California voters.
- Election experts are warning the Supreme Court that affirming a lower court's ruling could mean that noncitizens, minors or factitious people listed on state voter rolls could be impossible to remove.
- “For individuals whom you cannot independently confirm citizenship status, we request that you immediately instruct the appropriate elections office to segregate — not cancel — those individuals’ vote-by-mail ballots until their citizenship status can be determined,” it continues.
Sources
- ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videoslink
- Common Dreamslink
- NPRlink
- Talkingpointsmemolink
- Thebulwarklink
- Santafenewmexicanlink
- Democracydocketlink
- Democracynowlink
- PBSlink
- Dailynewslink
- Sfchroniclelink
- Al Jazeeralink
- Fox Newslink
- Californiaglobelink
- Breitbartlink
- WarpBeat — background on DOJ Gives California 48 Hours to Review Noncitizen Voter List link
- KMPH FOX26 NEWS — video link