Newsom, Trump-appointed Prosecutor Clash Over Noncitizen Voters in California
A dispute erupts on social media over the state's efforts to verify voter citizenship, fueled by a DOJ lawsuit and a local election official's statement.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Bill Essayli, a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor, engaged in a public dispute on social media this week regarding the state's measures to prevent noncitizens from voting. The exchange was prompted by a court filing in a Justice Department lawsuit concerning over 20,000 individuals on California's voter rolls whom the federal government suspects are not U.S. citizens.
Essayli highlighted a declaration from Monica Flores, an elections official in Los Angeles County, stating that the registrar's office "is not equipped or authorized to verify voter citizenship because it does not independently house citizenship-related information beyond the voter attestation." Flores made this statement as part of the Justice Department's legal action, which aims to compel California to verify the citizenship of potentially noncitizen voters who received mail-in ballots for the upcoming elections.
Essayli characterized Flores' statement as a "massive concession," suggesting it indicates that election officials rely solely on voters' self-attestation of citizenship. "American citizens’ votes are being diluted in California," Essayli wrote.
Responding via Newsom's press office X account, California officials stated that the state complies with a 1993 federal law requiring voters to attest under penalty of perjury that they are eligible, including U.S. citizenship. They also took a jab at Essayli, advising him to "brush up on your election law before tweeting."
Essayli countered by citing federal statutes that prohibit noncitizens from voting in federal elections, bringing the dispute back to the core issue of the lawsuit: whether California should implement additional verification steps when the federal government flags potential noncitizen voters.
The Justice Department's complaint, filed Oct. 15, stems from a cross-check between California voter registration records and federal immigration data by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This preliminary process identified more than 20,000 registered voters as likely noncitizens.
The DOJ initially requested that the court order California to set aside mail-in ballots associated with individuals on this list pending citizenship verification. However, Flores' statement indicated that such verification is now difficult, as ballots are processed anonymously after signature verification.
Flores also noted that the registrar's office is "not an investigative agency" and lacks investigative authority. She pointed out that a review of 200 records from the DOJ list with Los Angeles County addresses showed that 112 registrations were canceled or inactive. Among those with reported birthplaces, nearly 39% indicated they were born in the U.S., and over 71% had no voting history.
Essayli dismissed these findings as "meaningless," asserting that the county lacks the means to verify citizenship or birthplace. Despite these exchanges, the Justice Department on Monday charged 28 individuals from the identified list, all lawful permanent residents, with making false statements on naturalization applications and fraudulently registering to vote, with most having cast unlawful ballots.