DOJ Sues Orange County Over Voter Registration Records
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against Orange County, California, claiming that election officials are not releasing all necessary documents related to their exclusion from voter rolls.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors initiated legal action against Robert Page, the Orange County Registrar of Voters. Page is accused of failing to comply with DOJ requests for records about the removal of non-citizens from the voter registration list. The DOJ contends that this refusal breaches the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) by not maintaining an accurate voter list.
The attorney general from the DOJ’s Civil Rights Office stated, “Voting by non-citizens is a federal crime, and any state or county that doesn’t provide requested voter information is violating federal election laws.”
“Ensuring that non-citizens are removed from the voter rolls is essential for maintaining accurate voter registrations and preventing fraudulent votes in California,” Dillon added. He asserted that the DOJ has the authority to disregard state laws concerning voting.
Based on complaints from non-citizens in Orange County who reportedly received unauthorized voting emails, the Attorney General’s office accumulated a significant amount of information related to this issue. The DOJ is seeking details on how many voter registration records have been canceled since January 2020 due to citizenship issues.
According to the lawsuit, Page provided some documents on June 16, but prosecutors allege that he did not include essential information like California driver’s license numbers and social security numbers.
The Attorney General’s office argues that this lack of transparency impedes their ability to effectively remove non-citizens from the voter rolls and to assess compliance with HAVA.
Page was warned that he needed to release unedited information by June 20 or risk a lawsuit; however, on June 23, his lawyers indicated compliance would not occur.
While the Orange County Voter Registrar did not comment on the ongoing lawsuit, they did provide email exchanges with the DOJ to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The core dispute appears to be whether Page can invoke California law to withhold certain personal information from the DOJ. In contrast, prosecutors maintain that federal law supersedes state law in this context.
With over three million residents, Orange County is a critical swing area in California. In the 2024 election, voters narrowly favored Vice President Kamala Harris over President Donald Trump.
Republican official Don Wagner stated, “It’s unfortunate we’ve pushed the Justice Department into this position by failing to meet federal demands. By creating obstacles and refusing to comply, we invited this situation instead of claiming adherence to state law.”
Wagner emphasized that the county’s primary goal is to maintain clean voter rolls to ensure that only eligible voters can participate.
This move by the DOJ is another step in the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to curb non-citizen voting, which has included various lawsuits and administrative changes aimed at ensuring election integrity.
Additionally, the DOJ had previously filed a lawsuit against North Carolina, claiming their voter registration list was not compliant with federal standards. Efforts to investigate non-citizen voting have escalated, with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announcing an investigation into potential non-citizen voters following an executive order by President Trump aimed at facilitating access to citizenship verification data.
