Los Angeles County said 25.8% of records in its sample from a federal suspected noncitizen voter list showed a U.S. birthplace, raising questions about holding ballots ahead of California’s Nov. 3 election.
In an Oct. 20 court filing, the county opposed an emergency order sought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). It said 7,035 entries on the statewide list carried county addresses, including duplicate records. DOJ had sent California officials more than 20,000 names on Oct. 13, describing the people listed as likely noncitizens.
The county said 42.9% of registrations in its sample had been canceled, while 71.2% of sampled individuals had never voted. It found that 86 people in the sample had been mailed ballots for the election and 112 had not because their registrations were canceled or inactive. Those counts do not describe the full statewide list. The filing does not give a clear denominator for each percentage.
A recorded U.S. birthplace does not establish the citizenship of any individual on the list, the county said. It also said the federal list lacked the unique identifiers used in its voter system, leaving staff to compare names, birth dates and addresses. The underlying voter data reflected August 2025 records, according to the county.
DOJ says federal agencies applied several checks when assembling the list. It sued California on Oct. 15 and wants a judge to prevent officials from counting mail ballots linked to listed people until their citizenship is verified. California mails a ballot to every active registered voter. DOJ says it cannot complete individual investigations of thousands of listed people before the election ends.
The department announced Oct. 19 that it had charged 28 lawful permanent residents with election- or immigration-related offenses. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said all 28 appeared on the list of more than 20,000 people DOJ identified as likely noncitizen registrants. The charges are allegations and do not establish the accuracy of the other entries. The department has also brought California voting cases against two Indian nationals.
DOJ argues that withholding the ballots would protect citizens’ votes. Los Angeles County counters that using the list to hold ballots could leave eligible voters without counted votes and disrupt election operations. The election is Nov. 3, and the county’s certification is due Dec. 3.
