DOJ Charges 28 in California with Election Offenses

The Justice Department announced Monday that it has charged 28 individuals in California with unlawful voting and other election-related crimes, and has not ruled out prosecuting election workers who are processing ballots. Some of the charged individuals are green card holders, according to the DOJ.

The 28 individuals face charges including unlawful voting by an alien, making a false claim of U.S. citizenship to vote or register, and knowingly depriving California residents of a fair election process. These charges stem from a list of approximately 20,000 names that the DOJ had previously sent to California. The department suspected these individuals were illegally in the United States and had received mail-in ballots for the upcoming midterm election. The DOJ had filed a lawsuit against California last week for failing to review and act on this list.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter stated that after the DOJ provided the information, California and Los Angeles County did not dispute the findings or offer to collaborate on verifying citizenship. Instead, L.A. County indicated it would not examine the list due to concerns about IT integrity.

California officials, however, characterized the DOJ's request as legally unfounded and an attempt by the Trump administration to interfere with the state's election process. The Los Angeles County Clerk's office previously stated they refused to access the provided thumb drive, which contained the list, citing concerns about data privacy and information security protocols. The county clerk's office also noted that the DOJ's letter did not specify the number of individuals involved or the nature of the information contained within the records.

Experts maintain that instances of non-citizen voting are extraordinarily rare, despite claims from President Donald Trump and Republican leaders about the threat posed by noncitizen voting. The DOJ compiled the list of 20,000 names by cross-referencing California's public voter rolls with other government databases and public information, then removing individuals with evidence of U.S. citizenship, such as passport or Social Security records. Manual verification was then conducted on the remaining names.

Regarding the potential prosecution of election workers, McCotter noted that while he would not prejudge specific cases, the legal doctrine of aiding and abetting applies to federal crimes, including election offenses. This means individuals could face charges if they knowingly assist someone in committing an illegal act.

The 28 arrests were part of an initiative called Operation Protect the Vote. U.S. First Assistant Attorney Bill Essayli claimed that many of those arrested had voted in prior elections. He also stated that the DOJ has charged 113 people across 20 states with illegal voting or registration in the past seven weeks and is pursuing thousands of similar cases nationwide.

In a previous instance, the DOJ sent Nevada officials a list of 185 individuals identified by the Department of Homeland Security as potential non-citizens on the state's voter rolls. However, Nevada officials determined that everyone on that list was a lawful U.S. citizen.