The Department of Justice sued the state of California and Los Angeles County because local officials declined to investigate non-citizen voting allegations.
Posted by Up First from NPR, Checked
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- 4 support3 context
- Said
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Up First from NPROct 20, 2026
The DOJ sued California (naming Secretary of State Shirley Weber) and LA County registrar Dean Logan on October 15, 2026, and the suit's stated basis was the state's refusal to verify the citizenship of about 20,000 people flagged as likely noncitizens, which matches the claim's 'declined to investigate' rationale.
Our two reads of who says this, and how, disagree, so it counts as the post's own claim.
What was said
… Thank you. The Trump administration's fight with California elections officials over the voter rolls is intensifying. On Monday, the Department of Justice filed charges against more than two dozen people for voting crimes in previous elections. Just last week, the Department of Justice sued the state and Los Angeles County because local officials declined to investigate the administration's non-citizen voting allegations. So, with Election Day coming, where's all this heading? Let's bring in NPR voting correspondent Miles Parks to answer that question. Miles, let's start with that LA lawsuit. What's the latest here? …
Up First from NPR · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Politico reports the DOJ sued California on October 15, naming Secretary of State Shirley Weber and LA County election chief Dean Logan as defendants, after the state did not act on a list of 20,000 people it said may be non-citizens.[1]
Supports. Democracy Docket quotes the DOJ's complaint that California 'refused to independently verify the citizenship' of people on the list and refused 'to work with the Federal Government to verify citizenship status,' which is the substance of the 'declined to investigate' rationale.[2]
Supports. USA Today and the Charlotte Observer both report the DOJ filed suit against California over its refusal to segregate and verify ballots of individuals flagged as likely noncitizens, with a 48-hour deadline that expired before the suit.[3][4]
Context. The state disputes the federal government's evidence and says it has not received the information it requested, so the DOJ's rationale is contested, not established as fact.[5][6]
Context. A federal judge later rejected the DOJ's emergency request, citing doubts about the plaintiff's credibility; this affects the outcome of the case but not whether the suit was filed or the reason given for it.[7]
Sources
7 sources: 2 tier 2, 5 not rated
- 1DOJ sues California, demands it purge voter rolls for ...politico.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 2Court Cases - California DOJ Voter Roll Interference ...democracydocket.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 3DOJ sues California in clash over noncitizen voter allegationsusatoday.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4DOJ sues California over alleged non-citizens on voter rollscharlotteobserver.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Election tensions escalate in California as DOJ charges 28 people with voting crimesnpr.org · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 6DOJ charges 28 in California with voting crimes as election tensions ...ctpublic.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 7Federal judge to rule on DOJ lawsuit over 20K LA County ballotsnbclosangeles.com · not rated · 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 Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against California regarding the eligibility of voters on a list of 20,000 likely noncitizens.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 Justice Department sued California over voter roll maintenance.True
- The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking to block the counting of 20,000 non-citizen ballots in California.True