Justice Department sues California over alleged 20,000 non‑citizen voters
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of California on October 16, 2026, alleging that the state’s voter registration system allowed about 20,000 non‑citizens to obtain mail‑in ballots.
The complaint seeks a court order that would prevent California from tabulating those ballots until each voter’s citizenship status can be confirmed, and it requests injunctive relief to stop the state from processing the ballots in the upcoming election.
Republican Congressman James Gallagher praised the suit, saying it was “very much needed, long time coming” and suggesting it could boost a November ballot initiative for voter photo ID in the state. Gallagher told a televised interview that the lawsuit gives leverage to clean California’s voter rolls.
Attorney General Todd Blanche, speaking for the Justice Department, called “state‑facilitated voter fraud” unacceptable and warned that California could undermine confidence in the electoral system if it were found responsible in court.
The lawsuit references an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations that identified the 20,000 suspected non‑citizens by cross‑checking voter registration data with federal immigration records. Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said the federal government provided the names, addresses and dates of birth of the individuals in question and urged California to verify the information.
California’s Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Attorney General Rob Bonta have rejected the allegations, calling the claims “unsubstantiated” and asserting that the state will continue to follow applicable federal and state law.
The case was covered on RealClearPolitics on October 17, 2026, featuring former White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk as a guest discussing the legal and political implications of the suit.
The Justice Department’s filing comes amid broader federal efforts to scrutinize voter rolls in several states, with officials warning that knowingly processing ballots from ineligible voters could expose election workers to federal criminal liability.
If the court grants the injunction, California will be required to segregate the flagged ballots pending verification, a step that could affect the counting of votes in the November 3 election.
