BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The U.S. Department of Justice is pressing California officials to review and segregate mail-in ballots connected to thousands of people it has identified as "likely noncitizens" — a request the state's top election official is refusing to grant.
The DOJ is asking the court to intervene in cases involving people it identifies as "likely noncitizens," turning up the pressure on California over election integrity. Trent McCotter, the U.S. acting assistant attorney general, led the DOJ's presentation.
"All we ask in our lawsuit, including in the emergency motion we filed, is that the court order the ballots of those individuals be segregated so we can determine whether they are citizens," McCotter said.
The DOJ identified 28 people as foreign nationals in California, claiming all have been charged with voting-related crimes. Eight face multiple charges. None are from Kern County.
McCotter framed the stakes in terms of voters whose ballots could be offset.
"Imagine 20,000 people — 20,000 citizens — enough to fill a small stadium. You go up to all of them and tell them 'well congrats on voting but your vote just got cancelled out by someone who's not allowed under federal law to vote,'" McCotter said.
But California Secretary of State Shirley Weber is pushing back, saying the DOJ "failed to send the list of alleged non-citizens" earlier and there is not enough time to reconfirm the list before November 3.
In a three-page letter, Weber emphasized that granting the DOJ's requests to restrain certain individuals and temporarily separate mail-in ballots would violate federal voting-rights protections. She also raised questions of how the DOJ is using laws versus bias to identify individuals as "likely noncitizens."
For now, neither side is backing down. The DOJ continues to press California for action, while state officials continue to challenge the federal government's request.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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