LA prosecutor warns noncitizens may be voting as California ballot fight heads to court

Key Points:

• The top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, expressed concern that noncitizens may have illegally voted in California, as early voting began across LA County, with over 300,000 ballots already processed.
• The Justice Department is suing California to have ballots from more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens set aside and to require citizenship verification before counting votes, citing a failure by state officials to review the list within the requested timeframe.
• Federal agents recently arrested 28 individuals alleged to have illegally registered and voted, marking the largest such enforcement action in California's history, reinforcing DOJ claims of illegal voting.
• Essayli warned that California might be attempting to delay the process until all ballots are counted, making it impossible to address disputed votes post-election, especially concerning given the state's history of close election margins.
• State officials have resisted cooperating with the DOJ, including refusing to access a password-protected thumb drive containing data on suspected noncitizen voters, raising questions about transparency and accountability in election oversight.