The WatchlistWatch 22
This is a Watchlist entry. It is a developing story reported by credible outlets that hasn't reached a court ruling, official finding or documented harm yet. It says what to watch for. If that happens, it moves to The Record.
Suing California to set aside the mail ballots of 20,000 voters it calls 'likely aliens', three weeks before the election
Developing means: Reported by credible outlets, but no ruling, official finding or documented harm yet.
On Oct. 15, 2026, the Justice Department sued California, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County's registrar in federal court in Los Angeles, asking a judge to bar the state from counting the mail ballots of more than 20,000 registered voters whom Homeland Security's preliminary analysis flagged as likely noncitizens, until their citizenship is determined. California mails a ballot to every registered voter and began sending them on Oct. 5.
What happened
The department says DHS compared public California voter files with federal immigration data and found more than 20,000 people who are likely noncitizens and appear to be registered, and its complaint alleges the state 'knowingly' facilitates unlawful voting by counting ballots without verifying citizenship.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, the department sent a letter threatening to sue unless the state segregated the flagged voters' ballots within 48 hours, and dropped off a thumb drive of names at the Los Angeles County registrar's office, which said its data security rules meant it had not opened the device by the next day; Weber said the letter came with no list and that the information 'lacks both the detail and function' to investigate, and that she would not disenfranchise voters on an unsupported and likely inaccurate belief.
Gov. Gavin Newsom called the suit a politically motivated attempt to suppress voters three weeks before Election Day. In July DHS had told California that more than 190,000 registered voters 'may be' noncitizens; Weber says it refused her request for the underlying data. CNN noted the precedent from Nevada, where DHS claimed 15,903 noncitizens on the rolls in July, narrowed that to 6,218 high-confidence matches a month later, then supplied 185 names, all of whom the state says appear to be citizens.
Election law scholars quoted by CNN called the suit at best a long shot (Derek Muller of Notre Dame), guaranteed to lose and 'a press release masquerading as litigation' (Justin Levitt of Loyola Marymount), and warned of a serious risk of disenfranchisement (Rick Hasen of UCLA), since federal law does not dictate how states verify citizenship and leaves voter qualifications to the states.
Judges have dismissed about two dozen of the department's suits for state voter data (Exhibit 47), and the department's letters warning state election officials of prosecution are Watch 13.
What to watch for
How the judge rules on the request to set aside the ballots before counting ends, and whether any flagged ballots are actually sequestered or rejected; whether the department produces evidence that the people on its list are noncitizens; and whether it files similar suits in other states before Nov. 3. A ruling either way would move this to The Record. If the election passes with the ballots counted and no ruling, it comes off the list.
The administration's side
Attorney General Todd Blanche said 'State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America', and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said California officials were given the chance to remove noncitizens from the rolls and to sequester the ballots of suspected ineligible voters and refused, so the department is going to court 'to demand that the votes of American citizens not be diluted by noncitizens'.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said even one noncitizen vote cancels out a citizen's ballot. The complaint says it is not feasible to investigate tens of thousands of people before the election ends.
Sources
Permanent link: https://unredactedrecord.com/e/w-caballots/