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.
Posted by The NPR Politics Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 3 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 90%
The NPR Politics PodcastOct 26, 2026
The sources confirm the DOJ sued California and Los Angeles County over about 20,000 voters it says are likely non-citizens, and sought to segregate or withhold their ballots until citizenship is verified. The claim matches the post's wording, and the post's remarks about a 48-hour deadline and the court fight are consistent with the sources.
What was said
… They did not provide a detailed methodology of how they came up with those conclusions, but they told Los Angeles County that you need to investigate these. Because they did not do that, they sued, and they said, ah, State of California, Los Angeles County, we want you to segregate the ballots associated with these 20,000 people. Do not count them until we have verified citizenship. So that process is playing out in the courts. California says if we did what you asked, it would probably break federal and state laws. Uh, so it's that, that is working its way through the court system. …
The NPR Politics Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Reuters reports the DOJ sued California on Oct 15, 2026 to block counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 voters it alleges are likely non-citizens, after letters to Secretary of State Weber and LA County Registrar Logan demanded segregation of their ballots.[1]
Supports. The DOJ press release says the Justice Department filed a complaint against the State of California over more than 20,000 people who are likely aliens registered to vote, citing HSI analysis of voter-registration records.[3]
Supports. The Ninth Circuit-style appellate opinion names the State of California and the County of Los Angeles as defendants, and describes the US request to set aside vote-by-mail ballots from persons identified as likely noncitizens, confirming the County was sued alongside the State.[4]
Context. California officials dispute the list as unreliable, and courts later rejected the DOJ's request to set aside the ballots, but those rulings do not change whether the lawsuit was filed as described.[2][5]
Sources
5 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 2 primary, 1 tier 2
- 1DOJ sues California to block votes from alleged non-citizensreuters.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
- 4FILED - State of California - Department of Justice - Office ...oag.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 5Judge denies DOJ bid to stop processing California ballotsnpr.org · tier 2 · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking to block the counting of 20,000 non-citizen ballots in California.True
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- 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 filed a lawsuit against California claiming there are 20,000 non-citizens on the state's voter rolls.True
- The Department of Justice is seeking to block up to 20,000 ballots from being counted in California due to concerns they may be from non-citizens.True