‘Time is Up for California’ – DOJ Sues to Block California Ballot-Counting As State Officials Refuse to Sequester Noncitizen Ballots

The United States Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit against California Thursday October 15, 2026, seeking an order to sequester, and not tabulate, vote-by-mail ballots from roughly 20,000 people the federal government identifies as “likely noncitizens.

This follows Oct. 13 letters, to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan, by acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, who provided officials in Los Angeles County with a “password-protected thumb drive” with the names of people ​the federal government “believes are likely noncitizens” and were sent mail-in ballots from California.

“For individuals whom you cannot independently confirm citizenship status, we request that you immediately instruct the appropriate elections official to segregate — not cancel — those individuals’ vote-by-mail ballots until their citizenship status can be determined,” McCotter wrote.

Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security raised broad concerns alleging more than 190,000 noncitizens on California rolls. In a July 16, 2026 letter from DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber (and similar letters to officials in New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania), DHS stated that a review of publicly available voter registration data indicated “there may be as many as 190,832 non-citizens registered to vote in California.” It gave an example of 81,336 registrants matching name, date of birth, address, and Social Security number to non-citizens in DHS files. The combined figures cited for the four states were roughly: California 190,832; New Jersey 35,152; Nevada 15,903; Pennsylvania 14,576, totaling over 250,000.

California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada opted not to use a new federal citizenship database, a Homeland Security review found more than a quarter million noncitizens registered to vote, Just the News reported.

25 states ran more than 68 million records through an expanded version of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database and reported more than 28,000 potential noncitizen matches plus hundreds of thousands of deceased registrants.

In July, in a speech about election integrity, President Donald Trump shared intelligence findings that the People’s Republic of China “compromised” more than 200 million voter records across at least 18 U.S. states.

California officials did not comply with the 48-hour deadline this week, as the Globe reported Wednesday:

At 5:21 pm Wednesday evening (Oct 14), California Secretary of State Shirley Weber issued a statement about the U.S. Department of Justice’s demand that she and LA County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan review and assess the list of noncitizens who received ballots for the upcoming November election.

Here is SOS Weber’s letter – she’s upset that the US DOJ gave her 48 hours to accomplish this, after more than 9 months to provide verified list maintenance, identified potential noncitizens or other ineligible registrants:

“Logan’s office cited data-security concerns with the thumb drive and protocols,” Fox News reports. “Weber’s office pushed back on the lack of evidence/methodology, the compressed timeline during active voting, potential errors affecting citizens, and the absence of clear legal authority for the demand. California maintains it complies with federal requirements (e.g., NVRA/HAVA citizenship attestations under penalty of perjury) and that noncitizen voting is rare.”

Governor Gavin Newsom said the DOJ action is unsubstantiated, politically motivated interference close to the election, and a threat to eligible voters’ rights. “This is a sad, desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day,” Newsom said. “Courts have made clear the federal government has no role in running state elections. We will defend free and fair elections in the Golden State and call out every authoritarian attempt to undermine our democracy.”

Au contraire, mon frère.

This is a sad, desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day.

Courts have made clear the federal government has no role in running state elections.

We will defend free and fair elections in the Golden State and call out every authoritarian attempt to undermine our democracy.

— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) October 15, 2026

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a statement:

“In July of this year, President Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin made (still) unsubstantiated claims that California had 190,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls. Given the many high-profile examples of states purging U.S. citizens from their voter rolls based on DHS/SAVE data, SOS immediately requested written information about their methodology and data sources to back up their claims. They refused and provided California with nothing,”

F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli had this to say:

Time is up for California.

We gave California 48 hours to review and flag more than 20,000 noncitizen voters recently mailed live ballots. California refused. This morning we filed a federal court action seeking an emergency order requiring California to sequester ballots returned by suspected noncitizens. This is not political or controversial. 18 U.S.C. § 611 makes it a federal offense for noncitizens to vote in a federal election. We will not allow California to dilute the votes of American citizens.

Time is up for California

We gave California 48 hours to review and flag more than 20,000 noncitizen voters recently mailed live ballots.

California refused.

This morning we filed a federal court action seeking an emergency order requiring California to sequester ballots returned by suspected noncitizens.

This is not political or controversial. 18 U.S.C. § 611 makes it a federal offense for noncitizens to vote in a federal election. We will not allow California to dilute the votes of American citizens.

— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) October 15, 2026

I’m throwing in with US Attorney Bill Essayli. He’s a stickler when it comes to upholding the law. And we already know how Gov. Newsom feels about the law – he bends it to his own will.

How will the governor react if California’s midterm elections are called into question or invalidated?

US Attorney Bill Essayli doubles down on the law:

We produced a list of 20,000 noncitizens on your voter rolls, and your response is “it’s too late” because you already mailed the ballots. Not good enough. It’s a violation of the U.S. Constitution and federal law for California to dilute the votes of American citizens. One illegal ballot is too many. We will see you in court.

We produced a list of 20,000 noncitizens on your voter rolls, and your response is “it’s too late” because you already mailed the ballots.

Not good enough. It’s a violation of the U.S. Constitution and federal law for California to dilute the votes of American citizens. One illegal ballot is too many.

We will see you in court.

— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) October 15, 2026