The Justice Department is attempting to force California election officials to set aside ballots it claims were sent to 20,000 non-citizens.
Posted by Letters from an American, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 90%
Letters from an AmericanOct 27, 2026
The DOJ sued California on Oct 15 and demanded that counties set aside mail ballots from about 20,000 people it alleges are noncitizens, so the attempt to force set-asides existed as of Oct 27. The DOJ's own claim was that these ballots were sent to likely noncitizens, which matches the claim.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… As Zolan Cano youngs of The New York Times noted on Sunday, Trump has also tried to use the United States Postal Service to screen ballots, with the potential for rejecting tens of thousands of them. Now, the Justice Department is trying to force California election officials to set aside ballots it claims were sent to 20,000 non-citizens, warning the officials they could be prosecuted if they don't help the federal government identify alien voters. …
Letters from an American · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. A DOJ press release dated Oct 15 says the Justice Department sued California over more than 20,000 likely noncitizens registered to vote and sought to have ballots from them set aside.[3]
Supports. Reuters reported on Oct 24 that DOJ letters demanded counties set aside mail ballots pending citizenship checks, warning of federal scrutiny and legal exposure.[1]
Supports. As of Oct 27, a federal judge was hearing the DOJ's emergency request to set aside the ballots of 20,000 alleged noncitizen voters, and the appeals court was reviewing a related DOJ emergency appeal.[4][5][6]
Context. The district judge denied the DOJ's request on Oct 29 and the 9th Circuit rejected a renewed appeal on Oct 30, after the claim's posting date; California officials dispute the list's reliability.[2][7][8]
Sources
8 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 primary, 2 tier 2, 3 not rated
- 1US Justice Dept demands California counties help identify suspected noncitizen votersreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Appeals court rejects Justice Department request for ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 3Central District of California | United States Sues ...justice.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 4Appeals court rejects Trump DOJ demand to set aside 20,000 ...cnn.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 5In LA, a federal judge considers the DOJ's request to block ...sbsun.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6Appeals court declines to block California from counting ...ap.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7Judge declines to block California from counting alleged noncitizen voters’ ballots in DOJ lawsuitnbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 8DOJ loses new appeal for order purging 20,000 'suspect' ballotskesq.com · not rated · 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
- 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 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 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 filed a lawsuit against California regarding the eligibility of voters on a list of 20,000 likely noncitizens.True