Bay Area Election Chiefs Challenge Federal Voter Roll Demands

Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters Kristin B. Connelly said she expects federal allegations regarding noncitizens on California voter rolls to unravel as state and county election officials push back against U.S. Justice Department letters demanding that counties segregate ballots and turn over confidential registration records within 48 hours, according to Patch Walnut Creek, CalMatters, and San Jose Inside.

“I expect this accusation to fall apart like we saw recently in Nevada,” Connelly told The Associated Press, referencing a recent Department of Homeland Security claim that Nevada had nearly 16,000 noncitizens on its rolls—an allegation that produced zero actual registered noncitizens after state officials reviewed the 185 names federal authorities submitted.

Ninth Circuit Rejects Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Ballots

The dispute escalated after the Justice Department sued California and Los Angeles County on Oct. 15 seeking to block election officials from counting ballots from a statewide list of roughly 20,000 people federal authorities claimed were likely noncitizens, followed by letters sent Friday giving county registrars 48 hours to segregate listed voters’ ballots and turn over nonpublic Social Security numbers, driver’s license records, and registration applications under threat of criminal prosecution.

In an Oct. 24 advisory, the California Secretary of State’s office warned county registrars that withholding ballots based on unsupported suspicions would violate state and federal election laws, including the federal 90-day prohibition on systematic voter removals before an election. Both the state and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan reported that a review of a sample from the federal list showed fewer than half had active voter registrations, more than 40% had canceled registrations, nearly three-quarters had never voted, and more than one-third of those with reported birthplaces were born in the United States.

Following a rare Sunday hearing, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 on Monday to reject the federal government’s emergency motion for a preliminary injunction to force California to set aside the 20,000 ballots. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín also issued an order in a separate case restricting certain Homeland Security voter investigations after finding that flawed data swept in U.S. citizens.

Napa, Santa Clara, and Central Valley Registrars Detail Flawed Lists

Across Northern California and the Bay Area, county election leaders detailed extensive errors in the federal letters delivered to their offices:

• Napa County: Registrar of Voters John Tuteur told the AP that two uniformed Department of Homeland Security officers delivered a letter late Friday afternoon listing 42 people out of Napa County’s roughly 86,000 registered voters (where about 11,000 mail-in ballots had already been cast). Tuteur said he has taken no action and does not plan to respond, calling voter intimidation “another big reason” for the letters.
• Santa Clara County: County Executive James R. Williams and County Counsel Tony LoPresti sent formal letters Oct. 26 to U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian refusing a Friday demand sent to Registrar of Voters Matt Moreles to turn over confidential records and segregate ballots for 902 individuals. Board of Supervisors President Otto Lee called the demand “a fishing expedition built on false claims and fearmongering,” while LoPresti wrote that the Justice Department cited “no statutory or other legal authority that would allow the DOJ to direct a county’s administration of ballots.”
• Butte, Fresno, and San Benito Counties: Butte County Clerk-Recorder Keaton Denlay reported that of 47 names on what looked like “a print screen of a poorly formatted excel spreadsheet with missing and jumbled information,” 32 were not on Butte County’s active voter rolls and seven lacked dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, or full addresses needed to match any voter. Fresno County Registrar of Voters James Kus said his printed list was “not particularly legible,” and San Benito County Registrar of Voters Francisco Diaz, whose office received a list of 33 names, stated: “Hand-delivering a letter via armed federal agents with an arbitrary 48-hour deadline does not circumvent state law.”