Justice Department sues California, claiming it’s mailing ballots to more than 20,000 noncitizens

October 15, 2026 / 3:52 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The Justice Department sued California on Thursday, alleging that the federal government has identified more than 20,000 noncitizens who are unlawfully registered to vote.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, came after Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter sent letters to counties earlier this week, including Los Angeles, ordering them to review a list of names of suspected noncitizens who he alleged received mail-in ballots for the upcoming midterm elections.

"State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in the United States of America," Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

"If found responsible in a court of law, the State of California will have seriously undermined confidence in our electoral system and violated laws that protect our nation's representative system of government."

In the letter that McCotter sent to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, he enclosed a password-protected thumb drive that he said contained names compiled by the Department of Homeland Security, and imposed a 48-hour deadline for the clerk's office to review the list.

Dean Logan, the registrar-recorder and clerk, said in a statement responding to…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/