The US Justice Department warned California election officials they risk criminal prosecution if they process ballots from suspected noncitizens.

The Trump administration warned local California officials that processing and tabulating ballots submitted by suspected noncitizen voters risks criminal investigation and potential prosecution. The warning came in a letter sent by senior Justice Department officials to the Los Angeles County counsel's office ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

Justice Department Letter and Lawsuit

The letter from acting US Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter stated that noncitizen voting in a federal election is a federal crime and that knowingly facilitating or ignoring such conduct is unlawful. Officials who tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens risk becoming aiders and abettors, the letter warned. The warning followed a Justice Department lawsuit filed to block California from counting mail-in ballots from people the federal government has identified as likely noncitizens until their immigration status is confirmed. The federal government had previously provided a password-protected thumb drive containing a list of 20,000 names after giving officials a 48-hour review deadline that was not met. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber stated the administration provided no evidence to support the claim that the individuals are noncitizens, noting the state mails ballots to all registered voters. Los Angeles County Counsel Dawyn R. Harrison stated the county could not comply because the administration did not explain how the list was compiled, though McCotter's subsequent letter stated internal immigration records and data matching were used.

Reactions and Wider Context

President Donald Trump shared a news story about the letter on Truth Social, writing that individuals would go to jail for a long period of time. California officials criticized the federal actions, with Weber's office pointing to a previous statement describing the Justice Department's attempts to gain access to protected voter data and purge voter rolls as a cause of chaos and public distrust. Noncitizen voting is extremely rare, with the Justice Department having charged about 50 people who allegedly voted as noncitizens out of more than 227 million registered voters during the 2024 presidential election. In July, Trump stated his administration uncovered evidence of more than 275,000 noncitizens registered to vote, though it remained unclear how many had actually cast ballots.