California Concedes in Voting Rights Lawsuit

Officials in Los Angeles have seemingly made a significant admission in connection with a legal dispute over 20,000 individuals labeled as “likely noncitizens” on the voter rolls.

In a lawsuit lodged on Thursday, the Department of Justice sought assurances that state and Los Angeles County authorities would avoid counting the mail-in ballots from these individuals for the approaching federal election. It’s important to note that California automatically distributes mail-in ballots to all registered voters.

“California hasn’t acted on the list of 20,000 suspected noncitizens and has not taken steps to ensure their ballots are set aside. This means that the votes of American citizens could be diluted,” a statement indicated.

Earlier this month, California officials rejected a similar bid from the federal government, alleging that such demands aimed to create a political spectacle.

On Monday, the DOJ requested an emergency temporary restraining order to direct officials to discard the potentially invalid ballots, yet state officials are still resisting.

California’s representatives filed motions against the emergency TRO on Tuesday. Shortly thereafter, Bill Essayli, the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, made a notable comment about the state’s current stance.

“A disturbing concession: Los Angeles election officials informed a federal court that they lack independent means to verify voter citizenship beyond what individuals assert. Essentially, they rely on the voters’ word,” he commented through social media.

He went on to point out, “Only citizens are entitled to vote in federal elections, yet California hasn’t acted on this list of 20,000 possible noncitizens or agreed to discard their ballots. This puts American citizens’ votes at risk of dilution.”

Essayli referenced a segment from the motion stating that a Los Angeles official expressed a lack of capacity to fulfill citizenship verification requirements in time for the election.

“The Registrar isn’t equipped or authorized to confirm voter citizenship because they do not have the necessary citizenship-related information beyond what is covered in federal and state law, such as immigration, travel, or naturalization records; and they certainly can’t do this in the timeframe remaining for the election,” the court motion stated.

California’s Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom responded through his press office on social media, stating, “California complies with federal law established by Congress back in the 1990s. It might be wise to review election law before making tweets. Perhaps ‘Second Assistant’ is a better title moving forward?”

Governor Newsom later made comments on the initial lawsuit filed by the Justice Department targeting these possibly unqualified voters, remarking, “This attempt by Trump to leverage his politicized Justice Department to suppress California voters just weeks ahead of Election Day is truly sad and desperate. Court rulings have made it clear that the federal government should not be involved in managing state elections. We will protect free and fair elections in California and confront every authoritarian effort to weaken our democracy.”

Although California tends to lean left politically, there are several competitive congressional races that carry the potential to impact which party controls the House of Representatives.