According to Reuters and CNN, on October 31, California Governor Newsom warned federal courts that the administration of U.S. President Trump may try to manipulate votes during the midterm elections, and that preparations should be made for such actions.
While Democrat Nussin sends a warning letter to federal judges, California is engaged in legal battles with the federal government. The federal government has requested that California provide relevant records as part of an investigation into non-citizens suspected of voting-related crimes. On the 30th, the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the federal government’s request, which could lead to a confrontation at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Additionally, a federal judge requested the US Department of Justice to stop threatening to file lawsuits against California and local election officials who refuse to comply with federal government requirements related to elections.
Nielsen Reuters
Nuson wrote: ‘Given the U.S. Department of Justice’s determination to push forward with the baseless theory of criminal liability, I am very concerned that federal agents will request search warrants to seize ballots and election material before the results are certified.’
Newson said that the only reason for requesting a search order was to interfere with the state government’s ‘legitimate counting of votes and certification of election results’.
The report indicates that the U.S. Constitution leaves electoral matters under the jurisdiction of individual states. However, the Trump administration claims that California has over 20,000 non-citizens registered as voters. Nevertheless, California and many experts question the validity of this list. The U.S. Department of Justice has not provided details regarding the actual number of people on this list who actually cast votes.
It is reported that the U.S. Department of Justice has requested California election officials to consider 20,930 names as potential illegal voters and to separate their ballots during the vote counting on election day.
The Trump administration previously opposed sharing that list, stating that it contained sensitive information.
California states that the US Department of Justice's claims are based on "suspected data", and complying with its requirements could potentially deprive eligible voters of their citizenship rights.
On October 31, a legal document submitted by an immigration rights organization showed that more than 40% of the potential non-citizen voters identified by the Trump administration had no records on the state’s voter list. The number is 8,880 names.
The document also reveals that at least 22 individuals are American citizens, and there may be additional names that match those identified as citizens.
According to reports, this view was proposed by two data analysts from the University of California, Los Angeles. They filed a lawsuit together with the Los Angeles Immigration Rights Alliance (CHIRLA).
The document states, “Expert analysis further indicates that this mandatory voter list puts many eligible California voters at risk.”
It is reported that this document was signed jointly by Xavier Besson, the Democratic candidate for California governor and a consultant for the Voting Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Several judges have rejected the requirements of the US Department of Justice, stating that they are unconstitutional and threaten democracy. Local and state officials have indicated that the list is filled with numerous errors.
On October 31, Trump posted an article on social media expressing his dissatisfaction with the relevant legal decisions.
He said that his Department of Justice discovered “20,000 fraudulent ballots, but possibly hundreds of thousands or even millions,” and that the court has just ruled against this claim. “Why would they refuse to correct electoral fraud?”
The Trump administration continues to urge Washington State to remove its so-called list of 400 possible non-citizens. However, election officials said the list is unreliable, including a voter who cast a ballot in the 1990s.
The United States Department of Justice has warned California officials that they may face criminal charges if they allow non-citizens to vote, and has issued subpoenas to the local election office.
Electoral officials complained that the Trump administration only submitted a possible list of illegal voters to them at the last moment before the election day, leaving them with no time to conduct thorough investigations as required by law, and thus unable to remove the relevant individuals from the voter list.
According to reports, several lawsuits have been filed to prevent the government from continuing to threaten local election officials.
On the 30th, a federal judge in California ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to stop sending requests to state officials. The Trump administration decided to appeal on the 31st. Several counties in that state quickly reviewed Trump’s list and found numerous errors.
On the 30th, a federal judge requested that the Trump administration provide a list of plaintiffs in the case, which made it possible for a more comprehensive analysis to be conducted on the 31st.
Chiula and the University of California, Los Angeles filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in early October, demanding that the department not use federal immigration data to question state voter lists. The lawsuit cites examples from other states where the federal government’s data has been found to incorrectly include thousands of American citizens.
The case argues that the federal government’s data matching methods pose risks to voting processes.
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles have found that using federal methods, nearly 7,500 naturalized citizens in this state are “very likely” to be incorrectly marked as ineligible.
Researchers point out that the federal government seems to have removed voters' identification numbers from the list, making it more difficult for election officials to determine whether the marked individuals are already on the voter list or if there is a duplication with the list provided by the Department of Justice.
The US Department of Justice believes that if these votes are not sorted out, the loss will be equally significant.
“Each ineligible voter's vote will offset the vote of one American citizen. This department will not apologize for protecting those votes.”
