The chief federal prosecutor in Los Angeles has expressed concerns that noncitizens may be illegally voting in California, particularly as numerous polling places opened in LA County on Saturday. There’s a fear, he suggests, that the state might be trying to delay counting disputed votes.
Bill Essayli, the First Assistant US Attorney, told The California Post that it’s “very highly likely” noncitizens have cast ballots, as the Justice Department is currently contesting the validity of over 20,000 ballots associated with suspected noncitizen voters.
Essayli pointed out that California’s records show over 300,000 ballots have already been processed in LA County. “This is happening right now,” he noted, cautioning that the number of questionable ballots might increase as the legal battle continues.
Essayli, along with US Attorney General Todd Blanche, is advocating for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to compel California to reject these contested ballots and ensure voter citizenship verification beforehand.
This issue stems from a list of more than 20,000 individuals that California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and LA County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan failed to review within the requested timeframe by the department.
As federal and state officials clash in court—with oral arguments scheduled for Sunday—Essayli fears that California’s resistance to the DOJ’s directives could lead to an uncountable number of illegal votes. “Our main worry is that they might try to run out the clock until the ballots are processed, leaving us with no recourse post-election,” he said, referencing tight electoral outcomes in the past. “Once they count those votes, there’s no going back.”
Early in-person voting for the November 3 election launched on Saturday at 123 voting centers across LA County, with plans for more locations to open the following weekend.
“Voting in person raises additional concerns because those ballots are processed right away,” he added regarding the potential for noncitizen votes.
Just days before, federal agents arrested 28 individuals accused of voting illegally, part of a large-scale operation targeting the list of 20,000 suspicious noncitizens. They faced charges of fraudulently registering for elections, with many believed to have cast illegal votes. Authorities labeled this as the largest operation of its kind in California’s history.
“They were all registered and some even voted in several elections. This isn’t just a theory,” Essayli remarked.
He questioned why state officials would oppose the Justice Department’s actions, highlighting that critics tend to minimize claims of illegal voting as a mere “small percentage” of wrongdoers. “What percentage is acceptable, I wonder?” he queried.
Before filing the lawsuit, the Justice Department had provided LA County with a password-protected thumb drive listing the suspected noncitizens who received mail-in ballots, as indicated in letters to Weber and Logan last week.
Logan stated he did not view the thumb drive as secure and had not accessed it. “What’s the fear here? Why not collaborate with us to resolve this?” Essayli asked. “If they’re confident their records are accurate and that noncitizens aren’t voting, there shouldn’t be any concern.”
