DOJ demands California review voters' citizenship or withhold ballots

Noe Padilla, USA TODAYWed, October 14, 2026 at 9:16 PM UTC

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The U.S. Department of Justice has directed California election officials to review voter rolls for people it says may be ineligible to vote and, within 48 hours, take steps to ensure any affected ballots are not counted.

The directive was outlined in letters sent by acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter to Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan. The letters said the Justice Department could take legal action if officials fail to meet the deadline.

As of Oct. 14, neither California Governor Gavin Newsom nor Weber has commented on the federal government's demands. But California Senator Adam Schiff condemned the administration's attempts to interfere in the state's election in a social media statement.

"Another dangerous attempt to destabilize our safe and secure elections," Schiff said. "California will defend against this meddling and unwarranted intrusion on our constitutional rights."

Reuters first reported the letters on Tuesday.

McCotter's letter asks the officials to review a list of people the federal government believes "are likely non-citizens who were sent a vote-by-mail ballot" for the upcoming midterm elections. The department stored the names on a "password-protected thumb drive" and sent it to Weber's and Logan's offices.

As part of the federal government's request, it wants the state to "segregate — not cancel —" any ballots of individuals on the list whose citizenship California cannot independently verify immediately.

Additionally, for individuals on the list who have already received their ballot, the federal government wants the state not to count their ballot until California officials can confirm their citizenship status.

"This process will protect American citizens' votes while preventing noncitizens from participating in the federal election in violation of federal law," McCotter wrote in his letter. "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."

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McCotter also notes that the federal government requested Weber and her office's cooperation in July, after the Department of Homeland Security announced that California was one of four states in which noncitizens could be registered to vote.

However, one of those states, Nevada, later debunked those claims when Greg D. Ott, Nevada's deputy attorney general, announced that the administration's "non-citizens" were all lawful citizens, according to the New York Times.

In response to the DHS request for cooperation, McCottor notes that Weber "asked for more information" from the federal government and "did not refute that noncitizens are registered to vote in California."

USA TODAY reached out to the California Secretary of State's office for comment, but it did not respond.

In a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle, DOJ spokesperson Kiersten Pels said the letters sought immediate action from California election officials.

“This should not be controversial, as the criminal statute is clear: only American citizens may vote in federal elections. It is a federal crime for noncitizens to vote in U.S. elections, and the DOJ is asking California to ensure that is not occurring," Pels said in the statement.

It's unclear whether, or how, California election officials can impose these federal demands, since the state began sending vote-by-mail ballots to voters at the beginning of the month. Additionally, it's been nearly a week since voters could start dropping off their ballots with the state, which started on Oct. 5.

Noe Padilla is a Northern California Reporter for USA Today. Contact him at npadilla@usatodayco.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social. Sign up for the TODAY Californian newsletter or follow us on Facebook at TODAY Californian.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DOJ demands California review voters' citizenship or withhold ballots

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