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Sunday, October 18, 2026

The File

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Justice Department · Sunday, October 18, 2026

Justice Department sues California over its voter list

Thursday, Oct. 15

The File desk · Oct 18, 2026, 11:30 AM UTC

Status

Confirmed that the Justice Department filed the complaint on Thursday, Oct. 15. The claims in it are allegations. This desk did not open an answer from California.
  • Confirmed
    The complaint is , No. , filed Oct. 15, 2026, in federal court in Los Angeles.
  • Confirmed
    The government alleges more than 20,000 likely noncitizens are registered and were sent mail ballots.
  • Partially confirmed
    California's response was not in a filing this desk opened.
The Justice Department sued California on Thursday over the state's voter list. The complaint says more than 20,000 people the government believes are likely noncitizens are registered, and that California mails a ballot to every registered voter.1
The case is , , in federal court in Los Angeles. It names Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber and Los Angeles County registrar Dean C. Logan.2
The complaint asks a judge to set those mail ballots aside until citizenship can be checked, and not to count them before that. It says sending and counting them would violate and the .3
Attorney General Todd Blanche said state-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin called the review a preliminary analysis that is still going.4
Why it matters (Estimate). If a judge agrees, ballots the state already mailed could be held back until someone checks citizenship. California has not answered in a filing this desk opened.
Los Angeles County rejected an encrypted thumb drive from a federal agent, the complaint says.

Notes

  1. 1.Justice Department release, published Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, at 1:55 p.m. Eastern: the department, working with Homeland Security, filed a complaint after determining that more than 20,000 people who are likely aliens are registered to vote in California, and that every registered voter is mailed a ballot. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-state-california-over-voter-list
  2. 2.Complaint, United States v. State of California, Shirley N. Weber, and Dean C. Logan, Central District of California, No. , Document 1, filed Oct. 15, 2026. Paragraph 47 says that on Oct. 13, 2026, the federal government provided a list of over 20,000 names. https://www.justice.gov/media/1466286/dl?inline
  3. 3.Same complaint. It cites (a), which makes it unlawful for an alien to vote in an election held solely or in part for President, Vice President, a presidential elector, or a member of Congress, with narrow exceptions. The prayer asks the court to declare the sending and counting of the identified ballots preempted and a violation of the , and to enjoin tabulating vote-by-mail ballots from likely noncitizens until citizenship can be determined. The statute text this desk opened is the 2023 United States Code edition from the Government Publishing Office. Penalty: a fine, imprisoned not more than one year, or both. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title18/html/USCODE-2023-title18-partI-chap29-sec611.htm
  4. 4.Same Justice Department release. Blanche: “State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America.” Mullin: “This preliminary analysis has identified a significant number of individuals in California who are likely noncitizens and appear to be registered to vote; the analysis and review remain ongoing.” Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli are also quoted. The claims are allegations.

What is still unknown or disputed

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Justice Department sues the State of California over its voter list

    U.S. Department of Justice · October 15, 2026

    The Justice Department, working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), today filed a complaint against the State of California over its voter list after determining that more than 20,000 people who are likely aliens are registered to vote in California.

    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-state-california-over-voter-list

  2. Source 2

    United States v. California, No. 2:26-cv-12025, complaint

    U.S. Department of Justice · October 15, 2026

    On October 13, 2026, the Federal Government provided a list of over 20,000 names. The complaint alleges that sending and counting vote-by-mail ballots of likely noncitizens would violate and the .

    https://www.justice.gov/media/1466286/dl?inline