The Justice Department has instructed California to review a list of individuals who may have received mail-in ballots for the upcoming November election despite not being U.S. citizens. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter set a 48-hour deadline for California to verify the citizenship status of these individuals, whose names were provided on a secure thumb drive. If citizenship cannot be confirmed, election officials are to set aside these ballots until the issue is resolved. This action follows concerns raised by the Department of Homeland Security about noncitizens on California’s voter rolls. The Justice Department has been actively pursuing similar cases across the country, filing lawsuits to obtain voter roll data and ensure noncitizens are not registered to vote. Despite these efforts, the department has not won any legal victories and has lost 26 cases. Since President Trump took office, over 100 people have been charged with voter fraud-related crimes.
QUESTION: How might increased scrutiny of voter rolls impact public trust in the electoral process?
DOJ tells California to review whether noncitizens got mail ballots
