By Zachary Roth
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The Trump administration sent letters to at least 18 California counties Friday, demanding that they segregate ballots from alleged noncitizens, and threatening election officials with potential criminal charges if they fail to comply, the AP reported, citing the Los Angeles (L.A.) County Registrar’s office.
The letters — the latest escalation in a sweeping and dangerous Department of Justice (DOJ) assault on California’s election system — also asked the counties to send the administration sensitive personal information about the alleged noncitizens, to allow the federal government to determine their eligibility to vote, according to the report.
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The requested information included social security numbers and ID information.
The letters gave counties 48 hours to set aside and verify ballots from the alleged noncitizens, according to the report.
“Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy,” said Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor for Los Angeles, according to the report.
Last week, DOJ sent similar letters to L.A. County and the state of California, as well as threatening state and county election officials with potential prosecutions. L.A. County was given the same 48-hour deadline to comply.
Two days later, DOJ sued L.A. County and the state. A hearing in that lawsuit is scheduled for Tuesday.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday that lawsuits against other states, similar to the one against California, could be in the works.
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