Bonta Challenges Federal Demand for Rapid Ballot Verification

California Attorney General Rob Bonta criticized the federal government on Saturday for its push to audit noncitizen ballots. He described the Department of Justice's actions as an effort to politicize and weaponize the law. Bonta told MS Now that the department was acting at the direction of President Donald Trump. He called the move completely improper.

The conflict centers on a demand issued less than two weeks before the midterm elections. Federal prosecutors asked California election officials to verify a list of roughly 20,000 ballots. They were given a 48-hour deadline to complete the check. The ballots were tied to suspected noncitizens. While noncitizen voting is rare, the Justice Department has increased prosecutions of people accused of voting illegally without US citizenship.

State election personnel warned that the directive could strip eligible citizens of their right to vote. Los Angeles officials said this week that a high percentage of the people named on the list were born in the United States. Governor Gavin Newsom also criticized the effort on social media. He said the department was desperate to invent widespread voter fraud. He noted that counties received lists of people who never voted or voters from the wrong county.

The Justice Department framed its request as a way to secure the vote. A statement said the department was asking county election officials to provide necessary information for the Department of Homeland Security to quickly verify citizenship status. The department claimed this cooperation would ensure the most secure election in California history. The effort is part of a wider Republican push to crack down on alleged voter fraud among undocumented immigrants.

Bonta questioned the evidence behind the list. At a recent press conference, he said officials were given only names with no explanation of why those people were supposedly ineligible. He stated that if the federal government had such information, he would be happy to review it, but they had provided none. The department recently charged 28 foreign nationals with fraudulently registering to vote. Bill Essayli, first assistant US attorney, said the arrests proved that California was mailing ballots to noncitizens. He noted that the defendants are lawful permanent residents who hold legal status in the US but are not citizens eligible to vote.

Some state officials took no action on letters sent Friday. They cited the rapidly approaching election. This inaction set off a legal fight with the Justice Department. An appeals court is scheduled to hear the matter on Tuesday.