[UPDATE] DOJ warns California officials who count suspected noncitizens' ballots they risk federal prosecution
A day after suing, the department says counting about 20,000 flagged ballots could make officials "aiders and abettors"; California calls its method sloppy.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter wrote to L.A. County Counsel, copying Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Registrar Dean Logan, that anyone who "knowingly" counts ballots from voters federal agencies flag as noncitizens risks "becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime."
PREVIOUSLY
The Justice Department gave Los Angeles County 48 hours, to noon Thursday, Oct. 15, to check the citizenship of an undisclosed list of mail voters and hold their ballots, without saying how it built the list. When the deadline passed, DOJ sued California and the county on Oct. 15 to keep about 20,000 of those ballots uncounted.
- About 20,000 voters' ballots are the ones DOJ wants held until their citizenship is confirmed.
- Federal law restricts systematic voter-roll maintenance within 90 days of a federal election; the Nov. 3 election is 18 days away.
- California says the department's method for identifying noncitizens is sloppy.