The Trump administration’s escalating effort to find alleged noncitizen voters has run into a major court setback days before the United States midterm elections, after a federal judge rejected a Justice Department request to block California from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters.
US District Judge David Carter ruled on Wednesday, October 28, that the department’s last-minute request to set aside the ballots ran against longstanding constitutional principles giving states control over their own elections. The Justice Department swiftly appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
More than 100 subpoenas across at least 13 states
The ruling came as Reuters reported that the administration has issued more than 100 subpoenas demanding records on tens of thousands of voters in at least 13 states, part of an effort ahead of next week’s midterm elections to uncover evidence of unlawful voting by people who are not US citizens.
Most of the subpoenas were issued to state and local election officials in the past three months, although some date to the start of the year, Reuters said, citing public-records requests and interviews with local and state officials. Many were previously unreported, revealing a federal effort broader than publicly known.
The subpoenas reach Democratic strongholds including Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and other California cities, but also Republican-leaning states with competitive races, including Texas, Kansas and Georgia. At least 44 of the subpoenas were issued under grand-jury authority, indicating they are tied to criminal investigations and are generally harder to challenge in court than administrative subpoenas.
It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in US federal elections. Legal experts cited by Reuters say the records could be used to contest results in close midterm races, despite scant evidence that voting by noncitizens is widespread.
White House defends the effort
The White House says noncitizen voting is a significant problem that warrants the sweeping effort, including the deployment of hundreds of federal law enforcement agents. “The Trump administration is sending a clear message that anyone who illegally votes in our elections will be held accountable,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement to Reuters. “Only Americans should be electing America’s leaders.”
The administration launched its Unlawful Voter Initiative in August, directing US Citizenship and Immigration Services personnel to generate lists of people to investigate for possibly voting without being a US citizen.
California, Alaska and Washington cases
In California, Judge Carter wrote: “Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch.” He added that registered voters “must not be deprived of a core right merely because of unfounded allegations stemming from a procedure rife with uncertainty and errors.”
The Justice Department had filed the California lawsuit on October 15, seeking to exclude ballots from a list of more than 20,000 voters it said might not be citizens. California officials and Democratic leaders opposed the request, accusing the administration of aiming “threats and intimidation” at state and local officials before the vote. The federal government had separately accused California of having 190,000 illegal voters on its books.
Apart from California, the administration has sought to intervene in two other states with competitive races. In Alaska, the Justice Department last week asked a judge to prevent certification of election results if the Republican incumbent senator loses by a slim margin, alleging that another candidate with a similar name on the ballot could confuse voters. Alaska has urged dismissal, saying it has taken steps to distinguish the two candidates. In Washington state, the department on Monday sent a letter asking officials not to count ballots from 400 voters it said may not be citizens; Washington’s top elections official said the timing indicated an intent to cast unfounded suspicion on results.
Civil rights lawsuit challenges the initiative
Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in California federal court arguing that the initiative illegally intimidates naturalized US citizens and subjects them to possible disenfranchisement. The suit names the Department of Homeland Security and US Citizenship and Immigration Services as defendants and alleges the administration is demanding officials deny ballots to certain voters based on flawed eligibility data.
“The administration can’t keep creating political stunts to sow distrust in our elections and lay the groundwork to question results they don’t like,” said Theresa Lee, an attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project.
What happens next
Voters go to the polls on Tuesday, November 3, when control of Congress and many state offices will be decided. The California appeal, the ACLU lawsuit and the Alaska and Washington disputes are all still live, meaning further court rulings could land before or shortly after election day. What is established so far is the scale of the federal records effort and the courts’ first major pushback — not, on the evidence reported, proof of widespread noncitizen voting.
Frequently asked questions
Is it illegal for noncitizens to vote in US federal elections? Yes. Federal law bars noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
How many subpoenas have been issued? Reuters documented more than 100 subpoenas covering tens of thousands of voters in at least 13 states.
What did the California judge decide? Judge David Carter refused to order California to set aside ballots from more than 20,000 voters the Justice Department said might not be citizens; the department appealed.
Sources
- Reuters: Trump expands hunt for noncitizen voters with broad subpoena campaign before midterms
- The Japan Times: Trump expands hunt for noncitizen voters with subpoena campaign before midterms
- Malay Mail: Trump administration dealt court blow as judge rejects bid to block 20,000 California voters ahead of midterms
- Arab News: Lawsuit seeks to block Trump administration effort to find noncitizen voters
