California has not acted on a list of 20,000 suspected non-citizens or agreed to set aside their ballots.
Posted by Badlands Media, Checked
- Sources
- 6 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
Badlands MediaOct 21, 2026
As of 2026-10-21, sources show California declined to act on the DOJ's list of roughly 20,000 suspected noncitizens and did not agree to set aside those ballots; the state called the request 'outrageous' and later opposed it in court.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… concession: Los Angeles election officials just told a federal court that they have no independent way to verify citizenship beyond what voters attest. They simply take their word for it. Under federal law, only citizens may vote in federal elections, yet California has not acted on the list of 20,000 suspected non-citizens or agreed to set aside their ballots. American citizens' votes are being diluted in California. And from the complaint, quote, "The registrar is not equipped to or authorized to verify voter citizenship because it does not independently house citizenship-related information beyond the voter …
Badlands Media · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Democracy Docket (published 2026-10-19) reports that the state declined to act on the list, calling the federal request 'outrageous.'[3]
Supports. NPR coverage (published 2026-10-20) reports that California and local officials filed court papers calling the list unreliable and set-aside demands unfeasible, and that the state requested details on how individuals were identified without receiving them.[4]
Supports. The DOJ's own October 15 press release says California election officials were given an opportunity to remove noncitizens and sequester ballots and 'refused.' This is the government's account, so it is a one-sided source for the state's refusal.[1]
Supports. Later rulings (Oct 27–30) refused to compel the state to segregate the 20,000 ballots, consistent with California not having agreed to set them aside.[2][5][6]
Context. Local officials reviewed the list and found some individuals were likely U.S.-born citizens, and the state sought details on how the list was built. These are steps short of acting on the list or agreeing to set ballots aside, so they do not contradict the claim.[4]
Context. The 2026-10-21 Yahoo post repeats the claim's wording from the official's statement. It is circular and not independent corroboration.[7]
Sources
7 sources: 1 primary, 1 tier 2, 5 not rated
- 1Justice Department Sues State of California over Voter Listjustice.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 2Judge declines to block California from counting alleged noncitizen voters’ ballots in DOJ lawsuitnbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 3Trump administration uses list of 20000 suspected ...democracydocket.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Some on DOJ's 20000 "likely" noncitizen list in Calif. ...kpcw.org · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 5DOJ loses new appeal for order purging 20000 `suspect' ...nbclosangeles.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 69th Circuit rejects bid to set aside 20,000 California ...sacbee.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7LA election officials admit no independent way to verify voter ...yahoo.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
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- There is an ongoing effort to prevent 20,000 non-citizens from voting in California.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 sent a thumb drive to the California Secretary of State alleging that 20,000 people registered to vote in California are not citizens.Mixed
- The federal government filed a lawsuit alleging that 20,000 people in California have ballots who should not have them.True