Trump administration opens criminal investigation over alleged noncitizen voting in California

Federal prosecutors have started a criminal inquiry in California into allegations that large numbers of noncitizens are on the state's voter rolls, according to Bloomberg Law and the New York Times. Grand jury subpoenas are going out to election officials just days before the midterm elections, in which President Donald Trump's party is expected to lose heavily. Trump has repeatedly called California's elections corrupt and rigged, and his administration has recently moved aggressively to undermine confidence in results before voting ends, according to The Guardian.

The Los Angeles County registrar-recorder's office confirmed that several of its staff were served. Registrar Dean Logan said courts have found election workers are obeying the law, and accused the Justice Department of an adversarial stance at every turn. Orange County's registrar told the Guardian it was served again this week, after three earlier subpoenas in September; the current one demands unredacted registration records on 80 possible registrants.

Separately, on Wednesday a federal judge, David Carter, refused the administration's bid to force California to set aside and not tally ballots from as many as 20,000 people the White House claims are probably noncitizens. Noncitizen voting is very rare.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →