More than 4 in 10 names the Trump administration flagged as possible noncitizen voters in California cannot be found on the state's voter rolls, according to a legal filing Saturday by an immigrant-rights group. The Associated Press called it the first outside analysis of a list the Justice Department has used to threaten election officials with prosecution.
What the analysis found
Two data analysts with UCLA's Voting Rights Project reviewed the 20,930 names the department demanded California officials treat as possible illegal voters by separating their ballots during the Election Day count. They found 8,880 names, or 42%, do not match anyone in the state's current voter file. At least 22 are U.S. citizens, and many more may match confirmed citizens. Applying the government's own methodology, they estimated nearly 7,500 naturalized citizens were "highly likely" to be wrongly flagged. They also noted that the administration appears to have removed voter ID numbers from the list, which they called the most crucial data point for matching.
The filing was part of a lawsuit by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and the UCLA project against the Homeland Security Department, filed in early October. It was cosigned by Xavier Becerra, the Democratic candidate for California governor and an adviser to the project. The analysis was possible because a federal judge on Friday ordered the administration to share the list.
The legal fight
Multiple judges have rejected the demand as unconstitutional, and officials say the list appears riddled with errors. On Friday a federal judge ordered the Justice Department to stop sending such demands to state officials, and the administration appealed Saturday. The department has also warned California officials of criminal liability and issued subpoenas, and urged Washington state to remove about 400 possible noncitizens, a list state officials say is unreliable.
The administration's position
Trump said on social media the department found 20,000 "but potentially Hundreds of Thousands, and maybe even Millions" of fraudulent votes. Justice Department spokesperson Kiersten Pels said: "Every ballot cast by an ineligible voter cancels out the vote of an American citizen. The Department makes no apology for protecting those votes." Election officials say last-minute lists leave no time for the careful review the law requires.
Sources: PBS NewsHour, Associated Press