Justice Department Charges 28 in California Over Illegal Voting, Arrests 11

Updated 23:16 UTC

A federal appeals court on Monday refused to block California from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters the federal government says are likely noncitizens. The San Francisco based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Justice Department emergency appeal in the case, Reuters and CNN reported.

A three judge panel heard arguments in an unusual emergency Sunday hearing held by video. Circuit Judge Mark Bennett, appointed by President Donald Trump, and Circuit Judge Gabriel Sanchez, appointed by President Joe Biden, formed the majority. Circuit Judge Patrick Bumatay, also a Trump appointee, dissented.

The majority said the appeals court did not have authority to rule before the district court had addressed the matter. The majority wrote: "In the midst of an ongoing election, the United States asks the federal court to dictate to a state legislature a matter squarely within the state's traditional domain, upending the state's policies in this regard and inviting disorder and confusion for voters and election officials alike." The majority also wrote that the claimed emergency was, at least in part, a self constructed one, and pointed to delay by the United States in filing suit.

The decision sends the case back to the US District Court in California, where a hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. The Justice Department lawsuit, filed earlier this month, was the first time the administration sought to prevent a state from counting votes, Reuters reported. The department has not said how many of the more than 20,000 people on its list had actually submitted a mail ballot. Justice Department officials said on October 19 that the list included 28 people who had been criminally charged with illegally voting.

California has 52 seats in the House of Representatives, more than any other state. Republicans are fighting to retain control of Congress in the November 3 midterm elections, and Democrats are seeking to regain control of the House.

Updated 19:18 UTC

The Justice Department sent letters on Friday, October 23 to election officials in all 58 California counties, giving them 48 hours to help determine the citizenship status of people on federal government lists and to set aside mail ballots from anyone whose status cannot be confirmed, Reuters reported, citing reporting by The New York Times, and CNN reported.

The letters warned counties that they could face significant federal scrutiny if they failed to comply. For voters whose citizenship status cannot be confirmed, the department asked officials to instruct the appropriate election official to segregate, not cancel, their vote by mail ballots until the status can be determined, according to the letter text quoted by the Times. The people on the county lists are described as a subset of the 20,000 people across California that the department identified last week as possible noncitizens who may have received ballots.

First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli wrote to San Bernardino County officials that people who knowingly tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime, in a letter seen by CNN. Los Angeles County Clerk Dean C. Logan told other California election officials on Friday that the latest letter carries a posture of intimidation and threats just twelve days before the election, and he called the 48 hour deadline unenforceable. Logan said a review showed that many names on the list provided to Los Angeles County were associated with addresses throughout California, not solely within Los Angeles County.

California Senator Alex Padilla called the administration afraid and desperate, and said the Justice Department has not provided evidence for its claims and does not have the authority to interfere. Secretary of State Shirley Weber has accused the administration of attempting to unlawfully access protected voter data and purge voter rolls, Reuters reported. The Justice Department and the California attorney general's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported. The midterm elections are on November 3, less than two weeks away.

Updated 00:19 UTC

The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court to intervene on Thursday, October 22, 2026, in its lawsuit seeking to block California from counting more than 20,000 mail ballots from voters the Trump administration says are likely not United States citizens.

The department filed a notice of appeal with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals after United States District Judge David O. Carter did not meet a noon deadline the department had asked for on its emergency bid to stop the counting. The department said in its filing that Judge Carter has not ruled, but argued that his silence amounts to a constructive denial of its request for preliminary relief because of what it called the critical and exigent nature of the case.

California and Los Angeles County have asked Judge Carter to dismiss the lawsuit. They argue that the department lacks standing and has no legal authority to use a criminal statute that bars noncitizens from voting in federal elections, 18 U.S.C. Section 611, to force state officials to change how they administer and count ballots. The district court has issued no ruling denying the department request, Democracy Docket reported. Reuters first reported the appeal on Friday at 00:18 UTC.

Updated 19:08 UTC

Federal agents arrested 11 people across California on Monday, October 19, 2026, as the Justice Department charged 28 foreign nationals with election crimes under a coordinated effort it calls Operation Protect the Vote. All 28 are lawful permanent residents, or green card holders, who are not United States citizens and are not allowed to vote in United States elections, the department said.

The charges include fraudulent voter registration, unlawful voting by an alien, false claims of United States citizenship, and making false statements in naturalization applications. Some of the felony charges carry a maximum of five years in federal prison. The department said most of those charged cast ballots in recent elections, and that some later lied in naturalization paperwork about having claimed citizenship, registered or voted. Those arrested were due to make first court appearances on Monday afternoon, with no pleas taken. A complaint is an accusation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The four United States Attorney's offices in California took part. Defendants live in places including Long Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Sacramento and San Jose, according to the Central District of California. First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said the Justice Department has now charged 113 people nationwide with illegal voting and registration offenses.

"Each of the 28 defendants charged today appears on the list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants we provided to California election officials last week," acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said. "California refused to look at that list." The department gave California the list on October 13 and asked the state to set aside those voters' mail ballots until citizenship could be confirmed. California declined, and the United States sued the state, the case described below.

Updated 03:08 UTC

The Justice Department warned on Friday that Los Angeles County and California election officials could face criminal liability if they count mail ballots from the more than 20,000 voters on the list it says are likely noncitizens. In a letter released on Friday to Peter Bollinger of the Los Angeles County counsel office, acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter wrote that officials who knowingly count ballots cast by people federal agencies identify as noncitizens risk becoming aiders and abettors of a federal crime. President Donald Trump shared the letter on Truth Social and said the officials will all go to jail for a long period of time.

The letter, copied to Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Registrar Dean Logan, said the list was built through a multiagency check that used internal immigration records, data matching and supervisory review, and it urged the county and the secretary of state to reconsider their positions. Los Angeles County Counsel Dawyn Harrison said on Thursday that the county cannot comply because the administration has not explained how the list was made. Logan said the department has chosen to litigate unverified claims of voting eligibility and that the fight is best settled in court, the Associated Press reported. Weber's office pointed Reuters to an earlier statement that called the department push for protected voter data unlawful and said it fuels distrust in elections.

Updated 21:08 UTC

The Justice Department sued California on Thursday, asking a federal judge to block the state from counting mail ballots in the November 3 midterm elections from more than 20,000 voters the department says are likely noncitizens, until their citizenship is verified.

Reuters reported the lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California, which covers Los Angeles, after the noon Thursday deadline in the department letters passed. The filing asks the court to order officials to set aside ballots from people on the federal list and not tabulate them until citizenship has been determined, and to withhold ballots not yet sent until status is confirmed.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement announcing the suit that state facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable. Governor Gavin Newsom's office called the lawsuit unfounded on Thursday. California Attorney General Rob Bonta had criticised the original demand on Wednesday, and Senator Adam Schiff called the lawsuit a dangerous attempt to destabilise elections. Reuters reported that neither Secretary of State Shirley Weber's office nor Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan's office immediately responded to requests for comment on the suit.

The Justice Department has given California 48 hours to review a list of voters the department says are likely noncitizens, or face legal action less than three weeks before the November 3 midterm elections.

The demand came in letters sent on Tuesday by R. Trent McCotter, the acting deputy attorney general. One went to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber. The other went to Dean Logan, the registrar-recorder for Los Angeles County. Reuters reviewed the letters and reported them first. The Associated Press and CNN obtained them as well.

A thumb drive and a deadline

The department gave Los Angeles County officials a password protected thumb drive holding the names of people the federal government believes are likely noncitizens and were sent mail ballots in California. The letters give the state and the county 48 hours to check the list for any citizens included by mistake.

For anyone whose citizenship cannot be verified in that time, the state is told to instruct local officials to segregate returned mail ballots and not count them until citizenship is determined. Ballots that have not been sent yet are to be withheld from people on the list until their status is confirmed.

"If you cannot implement this process by then, given the ongoing federal election, the United States will have no choice but to seek emergency relief," the letter to Weber says.

McCotter wrote that allowing noncitizens to vote cancels citizen votes. Justice Department spokeswoman Kiersten Pels confirmed the letters to Reuters. She said the department will take all necessary legal action to protect election integrity and to ensure compliance with federal law.

California reviews the demand

Logan said on Wednesday that his office is reviewing the letter with the secretary of state and the state attorney general. Neither Weber nor Governor Gavin Newsom had commented publicly by Wednesday, according to USA Today.

California Senator Adam Schiff condemned the demand in a social media post. He called it a dangerous attempt to destabilize safe and secure elections and said California would defend against what he called federal meddling in state run elections.

The wider fight over voter rolls

The letters are the sharpest step yet in the Trump administration's push to press states over alleged noncitizen voting, an issue the president has raised for years. Voting by noncitizens is already illegal in federal elections, and cases are rare. The Associated Press reported that the Justice Department has charged about 90 people with election misconduct so far this year, including about 50 accused of voting as noncitizens. About 227 million people were registered to vote in the 2024 presidential election.

CNN reported that courts have repeatedly pushed back on earlier administration efforts to insert federal officials into the running of state elections. Ballots have already been mailed in some states, which raises the stakes of a fight over who gets counted on November 3, when control of the House and the Senate is decided and Republicans defend narrow majorities in Congress.