DOJ presses California ballot action and Alaska suit

California ballot dispute

The Justice Department sent letters to 57 of California’s 58 counties directing election officials to identify voters on a federal list and set aside their mail ballots within 48 hours while their citizenship is checked. The list contains more than 20,000 people suspected of being noncitizens and was created by comparing California voter rolls with federal immigration records.

The letters warned that officials who knowingly count ballots cast by noncitizens could face criminal liability. The department had already sued California and Los Angeles County on Oct. 15 to stop the roughly 20,000 ballots from being counted.

Federal prosecutors then asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to act before the trial court held its scheduled hearing. During an emergency appellate hearing, Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez questioned why the department had bypassed that hearing. Bennett also said California appeared to have authority over its election process and questioned whether the federal ban on noncitizen voting allowed the department to regulate the state’s procedures.

Alaska certification case

In Alaska, the Justice Department sued the state Division of Elections and asked a federal judge to prevent certification of the U.S. Senate result if Democratic candidate Mary Peltola defeats Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The requested delay would continue while officials investigate whether voters were confused by another candidate on the ballot named Dan J. Sullivan.

Trump said during a Florida appearance that he told the department to file the Alaska case. The Justice Department has framed both actions as efforts to protect federal elections, while the California litigation is testing the limits of federal authority over state election administration.