DOJ sues California over 20,000 suspected non‑citizen mail ballots
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit on Oct. 15, 2026, alleging that California’s practice of automatically mailing ballots to all registered voters could enable more than 20,000 likely non‑citizens to vote in the November midterm elections.
The complaint argues that the state’s mail‑ballot system threatens election integrity and asks a judge to halt counting of any mail‑in ballots from voters identified by the federal government as likely non‑citizens until their citizenship can be verified.
According to the filing, the Department of Homeland Security cross‑referenced California’s voter rolls with immigration records and produced a list of over 20,000 names it believes belong to non‑citizens. The DOJ says the state did not act on the list, sending out ballots to those individuals despite a request to segregate them.
"State‑facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America," Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote in a statement. "If found responsible in a court of law, the State of California will have seriously undermined confidence in our electoral system and violated laws that protect our nation’s representative system of government."
California officials pushed back vigorously. Governor Gavin Newsom called the suit a "sad, desperate attempt" by the Trump administration to suppress California voters just weeks before Election Day. Secretary of State Shirley Weber said she has "serious doubts" about the accuracy of the allegations and requested the underlying data and methodology to evaluate the claim.
Attorney General Rob Bonta added that mail ballots are already in voters’ hands and that every audit and recount has found no widespread fraud, labeling the DOJ’s demands as meritless. Los Angeles County Registrar‑Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan confirmed receiving a password‑protected thumb drive with the list but said his office had not accessed the files, citing security concerns.
The lawsuit asks the court to (1) set aside any vote‑by‑mail ballots from the identified individuals and (2) require California to verify their citizenship status, either independently or in collaboration with federal authorities, before those ballots can be counted.
With Election Day less than three weeks away, the case is expected to move quickly through the courts. State officials say they will defend the right of every eligible Californian to vote and contend that the federal government has no authority to dictate how the state conducts its elections.
