Judge weighs special master for noncitizen ballot claims
A federal judge is considering an independent review of the Trump administration's claim that 20,000 noncitizens appear on California voter rolls before the state's Dec. 11 certification deadline.
By Ivan Mori ·
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter said Tuesday he may appoint a special master to assess the Justice Department's assertion that roughly 20,000 noncitizens sit on California's voter rolls. The judge is overseeing a lawsuit filed by the federal government, which wants California to stop counting ballots cast by people it identifies as ineligible. Carter said a ruling without independent review would come too quickly. He said a special master could finish the work before California's Dec. 11 deadline to certify results. No order is expected before Wednesday.
The disputed names amount to a small share of California's 23 million registered voters. More than 3 million ballots have already been returned in the midterm election, which concludes next Tuesday. The federal government sued California election officials in mid-October, alleging they missed a 48-hour window to review the list. The Justice Department made a similar request in Washington state this week, asking officials to sequester ballots from hundreds of suspected noncitizens. A separate suit filed in Alaska last week seeks to delay certification if the Republican Senate incumbent does not win. All three states hold House or Senate races that affect control of Congress.
Carter questioned why the government sued California instead of pursuing criminal cases. He cited an October federal action in which 28 people across California were arrested on charges of registering to vote illegally. "You got a remedy for goodness sakes, go out and indict," Carter said from the bench. He also addressed threats against election workers: "This court believes it would be wise that any threats to state and county election employees cease immediately." Carter left the courtroom after that remark.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli told the court the government wants to prevent noncitizen voting rather than investigate after the fact. "We want to stop the illegal voting," Essayli said. "We don't want to chase it later." He said the government has not asked to void any ballot. Essayli said testimony would show how the list of 20,000 names was assembled, adding that "the case rises and falls on the credibility" of those names.
California officials said a completed mail ballot separates from its envelope once returned, which removes the identification data needed to match it to a voter. State lawyers said the federal government has not explained how or when it obtained the voter file and relied on a private third-party service to determine Social Security numbers. M. Patrick Moore, a lawyer for the Los Angeles County registrar's office, said the county would supply records if the government pursues individual cases. "If an individual who is a noncitizen votes, there will be record of that, and the county will provide that record" to federal courts, Moore said.
Los Angeles County reviewed a sample of the flagged names and found some were citizens. An affidavit from the federal agent who led the investigation disputed those findings. The affidavit, which said about 800 federal employees manually checked each name, conceded that some citizen names may have been included in error.
