From ABC News · ABC News · · 2m
DOJ charges 28 in California with illegal voting
The Justice Department announces criminal charges against 28 people in California for unlawful voting and election crimes, part of a broader push to prosecute alleged non-citizen voters.
In brief
The Justice Department announces criminal charges against 28 people in California for unlawful voting and election crimes, part of a broader push to prosecute alleged non-citizen voters. The DOJ charged twenty eight people in California with unlawful voting and election crimes, some of them green card holders, after…
Twenty eight charged in California
The Justice Department announced Monday it has charged twenty eight individuals in California with unlawful voting and other election related crimes. Some are green card holders.
The charges explained
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the twenty eight were charged with unlawful voting by an alien, false claims of U.S. citizenship to vote, and knowingly depriving California residents of fair elections.
The list of twenty thousand
The twenty eight charged came from a list of about twenty thousand names the DOJ sent to California last week. The DOJ suspected these people of being illegally in the United States.
California refused to act
McCotter said California and Los Angeles did not dispute the list or work with the DOJ to verify citizenship. Instead, L.A. County said it would not even open the list because of IT security concerns.
“Instead, L.A. County, in particular, said that they would not even attempt to open the list because of concerns about IT integrity.”
L.A. County's security objection
Los Angeles County Clerk Dean Logan said the thumb drive with the list was not a secure medium. The letter did not specify how many individuals were involved or describe the records.
“We do not consider the device a secure medium.”
California calls it baseless
California officials said the DOJ's request was legally baseless and a last ditch effort by the Trump administration to intervene in the state's election.
How the DOJ made the list
McCotter said the Department of Homeland Security cross referenced California voter rolls with government databases and public information. They removed anyone with evidence of citizenship, then manually verified the remaining twenty thousand names.
Election workers could face charges
McCotter said the DOJ did not rule out prosecuting California election workers who processed ballots for suspected non citizens. He cited the legal doctrine of aiding and abetting, which applies to all federal crimes.
Broader national effort
The twenty eight arrests are part of Operation Protect the Vote. U.S. First Assistant Attorney Bill Essayli said the DOJ has charged one hundred thirteen people across twenty states in seven weeks and is pursuing…
What it means
The DOJ charged twenty eight people in California with unlawful voting and election crimes, some of them green card holders, after the state refused to act on a list of twenty thousand suspected non-citizens on voter rolls.
