The Justice Department has given California 48 hours to review a federal list of people it believes are noncitizens who were mailed ballots for the November 3 midterms, or face emergency legal action.
Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter sent letters Tuesday to Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan.
The department handed over a password-protected thumb drive listing individuals federal officials “believe are likely noncitizens” who received vote-by-mail ballots.
California began mailing ballots to more than 20 million registered voters on October 5.
The letters demand that officials review the list within 48 hours.
For anyone whose citizenship cannot be independently confirmed, the DOJ wants the state and county to segregate returned ballots, not cancel them, and refrain from verifying signatures or tabulating them until citizenship is determined.
Officials are told to withhold ballots for anyone on the list who has not yet been sent one.
