The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking to block the counting of 20,000 non-citizen ballots in California.
Posted by The Fox News Rundown, Checked
- Sources
- 3 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 88%
The Fox News RundownOct 23, 2026
The DOJ sued California on October 15, 2026 and sought to stop the state from counting mail ballots tied to about 20,000 people it alleges are likely noncitizens, which matches the claim. The 'non-citizen' label is the DOJ's allegation, which California disputes as unreliable, but the claim's core assertion about the lawsuit is well supported.
Our two reads of who says this, and how, disagree, so it counts as the post's own claim.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… We have to have real, tangible measures, real wage growth, actual policies that will drive down the cost of housing, not just subsidies like my opponent talks about. And I'm Jason Chaffetz. I've got the final word on the Fox News Rundown. Last week, the Justice Department sued California, arguing the state should not count the ballots of roughly 20,000 people who may not be citizens. The president wrote on TRUTH Social that counting those ballots could result in jail time. They made similar demands in Nevada. In a recent speech in New Hampshire, California Governor Gavin Newsom reacted: "We have got to fight fire with fire. …
The Fox News Rundown · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The Justice Department's own press release confirms it filed a complaint against California on October 15, 2026 over more than 20,000 people it says are likely noncitizens registered to vote.[3]
Supports. Politico reports the DOJ's lawsuit asked that state officials be barred from tabulating vote-by-mail ballots from likely noncitizens until citizenship is determined.[4]
Supports. Reuters reports the Justice Department sued in federal court on October 15 and later asked the Supreme Court to block California from counting ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters it alleges are likely non-US citizens.[1]
Context. A federal district judge refused the request to segregate the ballots, and an appeals court also rejected it; California officials say the list is highly unreliable and most likely includes many citizens.[2][5]
Sources
5 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 primary, 2 tier 2
- 1Trump administration takes California ballot fight to Supreme Courtreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Appeals court rejects Justice Department request for California to set aside disputed ballotsapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 3Central District of California | United States Sues ...justice.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 4DOJ sues California, demands it purge voter rolls for ...politico.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 5Judge declines to block California from counting alleged noncitizen voters’ ballots in DOJ lawsuitnbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The U.S. Justice Department sued the State of California and Los Angeles County to segregate ballots associated with 20,000 individuals identified as likely non-citizens.True
- The Justice Department is attempting to force California election officials to set aside ballots it claims were sent to 20,000 non-citizens.True
- The Department of Justice sued California to stop the counting of thousands of ballots.True
- The Department of Justice requested that California election officials review a list of potential non-citizens within 48 hours and segregate the ballots of those whose citizenship cannot be confirmed.True
- The federal government filed a lawsuit alleging that 20,000 people in California have ballots who should not have them.True