Justice Department demands California counties isolate suspected noncitizen voter ballots

The United States Department of Justice sent letters to local election officials across California on October 24, 2026, demanding that county registrars isolate ballots believed to belong to noncitizen voters. ABC News and The Hill both report that the federal demands were sent to officials ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. Local election officials expressed frustration and confusion over the federal requests. [1][2]

The Justice Department letter asks election officials to collect sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers, for approximately 20,000 voters, ABC News reported. It is illegal under federal law for noncitizens to register or vote in elections. The San Francisco Chronicle and Yahoo both reported that the department gave local registrars a 48-hour deadline to quarantine the suspected ballots. [1][4][7]

Democracy Docket reported that the federal government threatened to prosecute local election officials if they fail to comply with the demands to segregate the ballots. Fox News reported that a court ruled California must respond to the emergency request from the Department of Justice regarding the mailed ballots. [5][6]

California was admitted to the Union in 1850 as the 31st state and holds a gross domestic product of 4.1 trillion dollars as of 2025. Kamala Harris represented the state in the United States Senate from 2017 to 2021 and served as its attorney general from 2011 to 2017 before becoming vice president of the United States. [8][9]