Trump DOJ Sues Orange County for Withholding Noncitizen Voting Records

Democrats claim that Republican allegations about illegal immigrants voting in elections are entirely baseless. But it sounds like some illegal immigrants could have been voting in Orange County and now the Trump Justice Department is getting involved.

It does not sound that way in Orange County.

The Trump Justice Department last week sued the Orange County Registrar of Voters for violating federal law by refusing to turn over un-redacted records of non-citizens who were removed from the voting rolls. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, says that Orange County Registrar Robert Page is “concealing the unlawful registration of non-voters.”

“Voting by non-citizens is a federal crime, and states and counties that refuse to disclose all requested voter information are in violation of well-established federal elections laws” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Removal of non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls is critical to ensuring that the State’s voter rolls are accurate and that elections in California are conducted without fraudulent voting. The Department of Justice will hold jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal voting laws accountable.”

The Justice Department says it acted after it was alerted by non-citizens that the Registrar of Voters was sending them voting ballots. On June 2,  the Department’s civil rights division  asked Orange County Registrar of Voters Robert Page to send over detailed information on all non-citizens registered to vote, including their social security numbers and driver’s licenses. (Yes! Illegal immigrants can get social security numbers and driver’s licenses.) But Page balked at providing that information, saying the disclosures would violate California law.

He did tell them that over a five year period, 17 non-citizens had registered to vote and that they either “self-reported” they were not eligible or he was informed of their status by the Orange County District Attorney. Page sent the Department their names but omitted their social security numbers, drivers license and images of their signatures.

The complaint says Page was told by the Justice Department to turn over the records by June 24 or they would face litigation. Sure enough, the lawsuit was filed on June 25.

The lawsuit starts off by quoting Ronald Reagan saying in 1982 that “Citizens must have complete confidence in the sanctity of their right to vote.”

But “Orange County has undermined that confidence by (1) refusing transparency of its voter information, in violation of federal voting laws, and (2) concealing the unlawful registration of ineligible, non-citizen voters. Keeping voter registration rolls accurate and current ensures efficient and secure elections and promotes democratic engagement. Accurate voter registration lists are necessary to ensure only eligible electors can cast a ballot. “

The lawsuit says Page is violating federal law that requires public disclosure of state voting records by not turning over the information on the non-citizens.  It says the 1993 National Voter Registration Act public disclosure provisions require him to “maintain for at least 2 years and shall make available for public inspection and, where available, photocopying at a reasonable cost, all records concerning the implementation of programs and activities conducted for the purpose of ensuring the accuracy and currency of official lists of eligible voters.”

And that when Page “evaluates and/or investigates whether a registrant meets the state’s qualifications for registration and voting, including citizenship, he engages in an activity or program within the Public Disclosure Provisions scope.”

And that cancelling registrations is also covered under this provision. “When Defendant cancels a registration record because the registrant does not meet the requirements for registration and voting, including non citizenship, he engages in an activity or program within the Public Disclosure Provisions scope.  The records requested by the Attorney General are records within the scope of the NVRA’s Public Disclosure Provision.”

The Justice Department is asking the court to order Page to turn over the requested materials.

Local reaction to the lawsuit split along party lines.

Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner, a Republican, said in a statement that the Registrar “placing roadblocks and refusing to comply” had “unfortunately and unnecessarily forced the hand of the Department of Justice.”

“We invited this lawsuit,” he said. “The county’s only interest is in having the cleanest possible voter rolls so that every eligible voter may vote, but only eligible voters can vote.”

But Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, a Democrat, defended the Registrar’s decision to withhold information from the Justice Department.  She insisted that, “Voter privacy is built into the system and state law prohibits the county from providing private information without a court order.”

But it sounds like Orange County might buckle under this ferocious legal assault from the Trump Justice Department.

Orange County Counsel Leon Page told LAist that to settle the lawsuit they could turn over the redacted information provided it remains confidential. “Now that a lawsuit has been filed, we hope to explore the resolution of this litigation with the production of unredacted voter registration records to the USDOJ pursuant to a stipulated protective order,” he said.

Hans von Spakovsky, an election integrity expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation,  told the California Globe that the Justice Department is a welcome development.

“Prior Justice Departments have not tried to obtain this information because of a lack of interest in prosecuting aliens who violate federal law by registering and voting in U.S. elections,” he emailed. “This was a complete failure of their solemn obligation to enforce the law and protect the integrity of the election process.  It is a felony under federal law for an alien to register or vote.  States have no right to withhold information of criminal violations of federal law from the Justice Department.  The fact that the Justice Department is also the federal agency specifically designated to enforce the National Voter Registration Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Help America Vote Act, all of which have provisions requiring states to maintain accurate voter registration rolls and prohibiting voter registration fraud, also gives the federal government all of the legal authority it needs to obtain such information from local and state election officials.  Hopefully, the Justice Department will be filing such enforcement actions in as many jurisdictions as possible to root out the problem of alien voting.”

Leon Page, who is not related to Orange County Registrar Robert Page, did not reply to an emailed request for comment this afternoon.