Analysis finds 42% of DOJ's California noncitizen voter list not on state rolls

More than 4 in 10 names that the Trump administration flagged as possible noncitizen voters in California cannot be found on the state's voter rolls at all, according to a legal filing Saturday by an immigrant rights group ¹². It is the first outside analysis of a list the Department of Justice has used to threaten prosecution of election officials ¹.

Two UCLA data scientists examined the 20,930 names the department demanded California election officials treat as possible illegal voters by separating their ballots during the Election Day count ¹². The research found that 8,880 of the names, 42% of the entire list, do not correspond to anyone on California's current voter file ¹².

On tapeABC10 · Oct 27

▶4:29

The analysis also found at least 22 of the flagged names are U.S. citizens, and said many more may correspond to confirmed citizens ¹². The filing describes the work of two members of UCLA's Voting Rights Project, who filed a lawsuit challenging the list with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, known as CHIRLA ¹.

The filing was co-signed by Xavier Becerra, the Democratic candidate for California governor and an adviser to the UCLA Voting Rights Project ¹². The filing said its review proves, at least as a preponderance of the evidence, that demands of election officials under criminal and civil threats endanger the voting rights of plaintiff CHIRLA's members and clients ¹².

The Trump administration had objected to sharing the list, calling it a "fishing expedition" and noting it included sensitive information ¹². Multiple judges have rejected the department's demand as unconstitutional and a threat to democracy, and local and state officials have said the list appears riddled with errors ¹².

Why it matters with three days to go

That matters because the list is the factual basis for the administration's pre-election claims of noncitizen voting in California, and the analysis says more than 4 in 10 of its names do not match a registered voter in the state ¹². The filing does not allege that anyone on the list voted; it challenges the accuracy of the list itself ¹.

The pattern is one of courts repeatedly blocking the demand while the underlying data goes untested in public ¹². Saturday's filing is the first outside look at the names, and it arrives after the department fought to keep them private ¹.

What happens next is a legal question, not an electoral one: the analysis is evidence in the CHIRLA lawsuit, and the courts that have already rejected the demand will weigh it ¹². Voters in California will still cast and count ballots under the rules the judges have left in place ¹.

The Record

1. Oct 31, 2026A legal filing by two UCLA data scientists and CHIRLA finds 8,880 of 20,930 names on the Justice Department's California list, 42%, match no one on the state voter file, and at least 22 are U.S. citizens ¹².
2. Oct 31, 2026The filing is co-signed by Xavier Becerra, the Democratic candidate for California governor and an adviser to the UCLA Voting Rights Project ¹².

Free to reprint Republish this story on your site or in your newsletter

Any site, blog or newsletter may run this story free of charge. Keep the credit line and its link to the original, do not sell it, and edit only for length or house style (the full terms). Photos carry their own licenses, noted under each photo on this page, so use the text alone unless a credit says otherwise.

<h2>Analysis finds 42% of DOJ&#39;s California noncitizen voter list not on state rolls</h2> <p><em>By The GOP Files Campaign Desk. This article first appeared on <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/analysis-finds-42-of-doj-s-california-noncitizen-voter-list-not-on-state-rolls">The GOP Files</a> on Saturday, October 31, 2026.</em></p> <p>More than 4 in 10 names that the Trump administration flagged as possible noncitizen voters in California cannot be found on the state&#39;s voter rolls at all, according to a legal filing Saturday by an immigrant rights group . It is the first outside analysis of a list the Department of Justice has used to threaten prosecution of election officials .</p> <p>Two UCLA data scientists examined the 20,930 names the department demanded California election officials treat as possible illegal voters by separating their ballots during the Election Day count . The research found that 8,880 of the names, 42% of the entire list, do not correspond to anyone on California&#39;s current voter file .</p> <p>The analysis also found at least 22 of the flagged names are U.S. citizens, and said many more may correspond to confirmed citizens . The filing describes the work of two members of UCLA&#39;s Voting Rights Project, who filed a lawsuit challenging the list with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, known as CHIRLA .</p> <p>The filing was co-signed by Xavier Becerra, the Democratic candidate for California governor and an adviser to the UCLA Voting Rights Project . The filing said its review proves, at least as a preponderance of the evidence, that demands of election officials under criminal and civil threats endanger the voting rights of plaintiff CHIRLA&#39;s members and clients .</p> <p>The Trump administration had objected to sharing the list, calling it a &quot;fishing expedition&quot; and noting it included sensitive information . Multiple judges have rejected the department&#39;s demand as unconstitutional and a threat to democracy, and local and state officials have said the list appears riddled with errors .</p> <h2>Why it matters with three days to go</h2> <p>That matters because the list is the factual basis for the administration&#39;s pre-election claims of noncitizen voting in California, and the analysis says more than 4 in 10 of its names do not match a registered voter in the state . The filing does not allege that anyone on the list voted; it challenges the accuracy of the list itself .</p> <p>The pattern is one of courts repeatedly blocking the demand while the underlying data goes untested in public . Saturday&#39;s filing is the first outside look at the names, and it arrives after the department fought to keep them private .</p> <p>What happens next is a legal question, not an electoral one: the analysis is evidence in the CHIRLA lawsuit, and the courts that have already rejected the demand will weigh it . Voters in California will still cast and count ballots under the rules the judges have left in place .</p> <p><em>Read the original, with every source linked, at <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/analysis-finds-42-of-doj-s-california-noncitizen-voter-list-not-on-state-rolls">thegopfiles.com</a>. Republished under The GOP Files' <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/republish">free republishing terms</a>.</em></p> <img src="https://thegopfiles.com/api/rp/analysis-finds-42-of-doj-s-california-noncitizen-voter-list-not-on-state-rolls.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border:0;width:1px;height:1px">

Copy the HTML Paste it into your editor's HTML view. The one-pixel image at the end tells our newsroom the story ran; it stores no reader data.

Sources

1. ABC News, “More than 40% of names on DOJ list of alleged noncitizens not on California's voter rolls: analysis” (2026-10-31). abcnews.com/Politics/wireStory/40-names-doj-list-alleged-non
2. WDBO, “DOJ list of alleged noncitizens on voter rolls rife with errors, analysis finds - WDBO” (2026-10-31). wdbo.com/news/politics/more-than-40-names/7JQT3NC7SA6DVM3I24

Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.