DOJ seeks sanctions against group that analyzed voter data
The Justice Department wants an immigrant rights group penalized for finding errors in its list of alleged non-citizen voters.
By Mateo Thompson ·
The Department of Justice has asked a federal judge to sanction the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, for questioning the accuracy of a government list of alleged non-citizen voters. The request for sanctions comes as the agency attempts to hold 20,000 ballots in California in the days before the midterm election.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg granted CHIRLA access to the federal data on the condition that the group keep the names private and use the information only to support its legal standing. After reviewing the database, CHIRLA submitted a report stating that 40% of the individuals on the DOJ's list of 20,000 people could not be found on state voter rolls. The group also identified at least 22 individuals who were likely naturalized citizens and noted that thousands of people on the list were U.S. citizens.
In a court filing, the DOJ argued that the report's focus on general inaccuracies was irrelevant to the specific legal standing of the plaintiffs in the case. The filing stated that comparisons between the government's list and the full California voter file were "political grandstanding." The Justice Department asked Judge Boasberg to refer the matter for a contempt of court investigation.
Alberto Lammers, a spokesman for the University of California, Los Angeles Voting Rights Project, which filed the original lawsuit, said the group complied with all court orders. "Plaintiffs' counsel and their experts fully complied with the Court's orders," Lammers told the Associated Press.
The DOJ has filed multiple lawsuits to withhold ballots in California and Washington state. In California, a judge ruled against the agency's request to hold the 20,000 ballots, stating that doing so would disrupt the ongoing election and create a chilling effect on voters. In Washington state, election officials also found U.S. citizens on the DOJ's list of 400 disputed ballots.
The DOJ's request for sanctions follows its broader effort to challenge ballot counts in the lead-up to the midterm election. The agency has maintained that the individuals on its list are non-citizens, despite the data analysis showing a high percentage of unlisted names and a significant number of identified citizens.
The case is currently before Judge Boasberg, who has the authority to grant or deny the sanctions. The DOJ's filing did not include a specific monetary penalty amount but asked for a referral for contempt.
