Justice Department California review has been ordered on a list of people the federal government believes may have been sent mail-in ballots for November despite not being U.S. citizens, according to a letter sent to state and county election officials.
In an Oct. 13 letter, acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter gave California 48 hours to check the names, which were provided on a password-protected thumb drive, and determine each individual’s citizenship status. He directed officials to instruct local election offices to segregate, not cancel, vote-by-mail ballots for anyone whose citizenship could not be independently confirmed, and to withhold ballots from those on the list who had not yet been mailed one until their status is verified.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said her office received the Justice Department letter but was not given the list it referenced. She criticized what she described as federal attempts to obtain protected voter data and purge voter rolls, saying such efforts create confusion and undermine confidence in elections.
Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan confirmed receiving the correspondence and the USB drive, along with a handwritten password, but said his office had not accessed the device due to data privacy and information security protocols. He said the device was not considered a secure medium and noted the letter did not specify how many individuals were involved or what information the records contained. Logan added that any action affecting voter eligibility must be based on verifiable information, not unconfirmed data matches.
According to a person familiar with the matter, similar letters were sent to other California counties. The outreach follows a July communication from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to California’s secretary of state stating the federal government believed noncitizens appeared on the state’s voter rolls. Reuters first reported on the new letter.
McCotter’s directive is part of a broader Trump administration effort pressing predominantly Democratic-led states about alleged unlawful voter registrations. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has filed 31 lawsuits seeking unredacted voter rolls, saying it aims to ensure list maintenance and intends to share the data with the Department of Homeland Security for noncitizen screening. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon also sent letters to all 50 states in July warning of potential criminal action if states knowingly allow noncitizens to remain on their rolls.
So far, the department has lost 26 of those cases and has not recorded a court victory. In response, it has relied on publicly available voter files and other investigative tools to try to identify potential noncitizens on the rolls. Since President Trump took office, more than 100 people have been criminally charged with voter fraud-related offenses.
Multiple studies have found voter fraud to be rare and not outcome-determinative in U.S. elections. A Reuters analysis published last month reported that more than 30,000 self-declared noncitizens may have been added to voter rolls since 2000 due to software glitches and clerical errors arising during driver’s license and state ID processing. That figure is small compared to the approximately 174 million people registered to vote in 2024, according to Census data.
What the Justice Department California review means for ballots
State and local officials in California say they will follow legal standards for verifying eligibility and handling ballots, including segregating any in question while citizenship status is checked. Counties are weighing the federal request against established voter data security protocols.
Hawaii voters should note that the developments reflect a broader national dispute over voter roll maintenance and access to protected election data ahead of the midterms. Similar questions about the integrity and security of democratic processes have emerged globally, including in debates over monetary policy and governance highlighted by Michael Woodford Nobel Prize insights on pricing and policy, underscoring how institutional trust shapes public confidence in key systems.
For more information on California’s role in federal elections and voting procedures, readers can visit the California Secretary of State and U.S. Department of Justice websites, which provide official resources on election law and voter eligibility.
