US DOJ arrests more than 2 dozen alleged noncitizen voters in California

Key Points:

• Federal authorities charged 28 lawful permanent residents in California for illegal voting and registration as part of Operation Protect the Vote, accusing state officials of inadequate voter roll maintenance and hiding noncitizen voting from the public.
• The Justice Department sued California to prevent counting mail ballots from suspected noncitizens, citing a list of 20,000 likely noncitizens sent ballots, a claim California officials dispute due to lack of evidence.
• California Attorney General Rob Bonta denied widespread voter fraud, calling instances isolated and insufficient to impact elections, and expressed confidence the state will prevail in the federal lawsuit.
• The DOJ warned election officials that knowingly processing ballots from noncitizens could lead to investigation and prosecution, emphasizing the seriousness of noncitizen voting as a federal crime.
• The dispute highlights tensions ahead of the November midterm elections, with the federal government pushing for stricter scrutiny of voter rolls and California defending its election practices amid accusations of "state-facilitated voter fraud."