Judge weighs special master to test DOJ's 20,000-name California voter roll claim

A federal judge said Tuesday he is considering appointing a special master to evaluate the Trump administration's claim that California has about 20,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls, and to decide whether counties could separate any ballots belonging to ineligible voters ¹².

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter is overseeing a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department seeking to stop California from counting ballots from thousands of people it alleges are noncitizens ¹². He said deciding without an independent special master would be too rushed, and that the review could be finished before the state's Dec. 11 deadline to certify results ¹².

On tapeABC10 · Oct 28

▶3:53

Carter said he will not issue an official order until Wednesday ¹². Voting has been under way for weeks in California, and more than 3 million ballots have already been returned ¹². The 20,000 people on the government's list are a small fraction of California's 23 million voters ¹².

What each side argued

The Republican administration sued California election officials in mid-October, accusing them of missing a 48-hour deadline to review its list of 20,000 people it alleged were likely noncitizens ¹². California and Los Angeles County lawyers said the government has not specified how or when it obtained the voter file, and questioned its reliance on a private, third-party service to determine Social Security numbers ¹².

California has argued that once a completed mail ballot is returned, it is separated from the envelope carrying the voter's identification, making it impossible to pull out ballots already submitted ¹². Carter said a special master could also examine that claim, which the federal government contests ¹².

Carter questioned why the government was suing rather than prosecuting, citing the October arrest of 28 people across California accused of illegally registering to vote ¹².

On tapeFOX 61 · Oct 27

▶0:36

You got a remedy for goodness sakes — go out and indict

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said prosecutors argued the U.S. had an interest in preventing noncitizens from voting in the first place.

Our goal is not to prosecute tens of thousands of people. It’s to safeguard the election

Essayli also said the Justice Department has not asked to void any ballots and wants to work with California officials to safeguard the election ². He told the judge the case "rises and falls on the credibility" of the flagged names ¹².

Carter also addressed warnings that county clerks who do not comply could face criminal prosecution ¹².

This court believes it would be wise that any threats to state and county election employees cease immediately

M. Patrick Moore, a lawyer for the Los Angeles County registrar's office, said the county would cooperate with criminal referrals.

If an individual who is a noncitizen votes, there will be record of that, and the county will provide that record

The hearing centered on the reliability of the government's list. Los Angeles County officials found that a small sample of people on it were in fact citizens; the federal agent who led the investigation, which required roughly 800 federal employees to manually check each name, said in an affidavit that the county's findings were false, while conceding some names could have been included by mistake ².

Why it matters

The case is one of three the administration has brought in states with races that will help decide control of Congress: the Justice Department this week asked Washington state to sequester ballots from hundreds of people it suspects are not citizens, and a lawsuit filed in Alaska last week seeks to delay certification if the Republican incumbent in its U.S. Senate race does not win ¹². A special master would push the California dispute past Election Day toward the December certification deadline ¹².

The Record

1. Oct 27, 2026Judge David O. Carter says he is considering a special master and will not issue an official order until Wednesday ¹².
2. Oct 27, 2026Carter cites the October arrest of 28 people across California accused of illegally registering to vote ¹².
3. Dec 11, 2026California's deadline to certify election results, the date by which Carter said a special master's review could be completed ¹².

Sources

1. ABC News, “Special master could evaluate Justice Department's claims of noncitizens on California voter rolls” (2026-10-28). abcnews.com/US/wireStory/special-master-evaluate-justice-dep
2. ksla.com, “Special master could evaluate Justice Department’s claims of noncitizens on California voter rolls” (2026-10-28). ksla.com/2026/10/28/special-master-could-evaluate-justice-de

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