The U.S. Department of Justice is suing California after state officials declined to verify a list of roughly 20,000 registered voters the federal government suspects may be noncitizens.
According to the dispute, the Justice Department sent California a password-protected list of the suspected cases and asked the state to check whether county registrars had issued ballots to any of those voters. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration refused to act on the request, prompting the federal government to pursue the matter in court.
The disagreement is part of a longer-running conflict. The Trump administration has for years pressed California to share its voter rolls so federal officials could help review them, and the state has repeatedly declined.
Newsom and other Democrats have characterized the federal government’s actions as an attempt to undermine confidence in the upcoming midterm elections, suggesting the push could be used to lay groundwork for future claims of fraud if Republicans lose. The administration’s critics argue the federal government is overstepping its authority, since the Constitution assigns responsibility for running elections to the states.
Supporters of the federal request counter that the Constitution also directs the federal government to protect civil rights and ensure laws are properly carried out, and argue that a simple records check would either clear the state of wrongdoing or reveal whether errors occurred.
The standoff echoes an earlier dispute over welfare spending, in which California officials initially said the state had little fraud in its public assistance programs before federal investigators pointed to evidence of fraud reportedly worth billions of dollars.
The case arrives as redistricting and election administration have become flashpoints nationally, with California Democrats recently pursuing a new congressional map that Newsom has defended by pointing to the national stakes of the midterm elections. Critics argue that if the state’s voter rolls contain uncorrected errors, the consequences of any resulting outcome would extend well beyond California’s borders.
It remains to be seen how the court will rule on the Justice Department’s lawsuit, or whether California will ultimately be compelled to check the list against its voter registration records.
