By Andrew Childers / Democracy Docket / October 19, 2026
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is asking a federal court to immediately prevent California from counting the ballots of 20,000 people the Trump administration has accused of being noncitizens who illegally registered to vote.
The request for a temporary restraining order is the latest escalation between California and the Trump administration over the midterms. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) over the weekend accused President Donald Trump of attempting to rig the election.
“California not just refused to act; it made clear that it is committed to treating ballots from those likely noncitizens equal to ballots from American citizens, prompting this suit and motion that seeks commonplace election relief when ballots are called into question,” DOJ said in its filing in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The standoff began last week when the DOJ sent California a thumb drive with a hand-scrawled password on a sticky note that it claimed contained the names of 20,000 suspected noncitizens registered to vote in the state. The Justice Department gave California only 48 hours to validate those names and demanded that California not count the ballots of anyone on the list. State officials declined, calling the request “outrageous.”
DOJ immediately filed a lawsuit accusing California election officials of knowingly aiding noncitizens who want to illegally vote in the upcoming election.*
In its filing Monday requesting emergency relief, the DOJ argued that the 48-hour ultimatum was a “modest request.”
But at the same time, the administration admitted the enormity of the investigation was too much for even the federal government to prosecute each case.
“It is not practicable or feasible for the Federal Government to prosecute thousands, let alone tens of thousands, of individuals that two federal investigative offices have identified as likely noncitizens,” it said prior to filing the lawsuit. “And while a State is not required to help the Federal Government investigate and prosecute crimes, facilitating the commission of such crimes obviously hampers such efforts.”
Earlier Monday, the Trump administration began arresting people from the list of suspected noncitizens.
In its court filing, DOJ blames California for not cooperating with the Trump administration to root out suspected noncitizens registered to vote. The DOJ said California has refused to share its unredacted voter rolls, which contain sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and birthdates. (29 other states also have refused to cooperate.) The DOJ has lost every lawsuit attempting to force states to release that information.
Trump has baselessly claimed for years that noncitizens voting in elections is a widespread problem that must be addressed. In reality, noncitizens voting happens rarely and never at a scale that could tip election results.
The DOJ, in its filing, claimed that the 20,000 suspected noncitizens it identified “represents the floor of potential noncitizen California voters.”
“The review is ongoing as additional records are received on a rolling basis before the election date to ensure election integrity,” the department said. “[U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] will supplement the record with additional information of likely noncitizen voting in the federal election.”
*The Elias Law Group (ELG) is representing pro-voting groups who have asked the court to be added as intervenor-defendants to DOJ’s lawsuit against California. ELG firm chair Marc Elias is the founder of Democracy Docket.
