Justice Department opens criminal inquiry into alleged noncitizen voting in California

The Trump administration has opened a criminal investigation in California over claims that thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote, and has begun subpoenaing election officials, according to Bloomberg Law and the New York Times, as reported by The Guardian ¹. The move comes five days before the Nov. 3 midterm election ¹.

Some employees of the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder's office received grand jury subpoenas, the office confirmed ¹. The Orange County registrar of voters also received a subpoena this week tied to a criminal investigation, in addition to three in September; the federal grand jury subpoenas seek "unredacted voter registration information" for 80 possible registrants, the office said ¹.

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The criminal inquiry follows a courtroom loss. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Carter declined the administration's request to order California officials to segregate and not count mail ballots from as many as 20,000 people the government alleges are likely noncitizens ¹². The Justice Department filed that suit Oct. 15 ².

Carter also questioned the government's numbers. He noted that in Nevada, the Department of Homeland Security initially identified up to 15,903 registered voters as noncitizens based on "high-confidence" matches, later reduced that to 6,218, and then to 185 after a manual review, and that Nevada officials confirmed all 185 were citizens ².

Given the vagueness of Plaintiff's descriptions of its procedures and the unreliability of its similar claims in other states, the Court cannot conclude that Plaintiff's process is credible

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli told the court the government was not dictating state procedure. "We're not telling California what they have to do. We're telling them what they can't do," he said, adding that once the state is told of potential noncitizens on its rolls, "they need to do something" ². After the ruling, Essayli said the Solicitor General authorized an immediate appeal and that the government filed its notice of appeal and will seek an emergency order from the Ninth Circuit ².

The case has already been to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals once. The appeals court held an emergency hearing Sunday and ruled against the administration 2-1 on Monday, finding it lacked jurisdiction because Carter had not yet ruled ². Circuit Judge Mark Bennett wrote for the majority that "at least part of the delay here is attributable to the United States's own delay in filing suit" ².

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Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan said court rulings have affirmed that election officials are following the law and that "threats and intimidation have no place in elections" ¹. "At every step, the US Department of Justice has taken a confrontational, adversarial approach," Logan said ¹. Carter on Thursday agreed to appoint a special master to evaluate the administration's claims about California's voter rolls ¹.

That matters because the subpoenas and the appeal are unfolding while ballots are already being processed. Carter wrote that granting the request "would wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway, create a chilling effect on election workers and voters alike, and discount the votes of United States citizens" ². The pattern is a federal push against state election offices in the final week of voting, with the government's own numbers still disputed in court ¹².

The Record

1. Oct 15, 2026The Justice Department sues California, seeking an order to set aside mail ballots from people the government says are likely noncitizens ².
2. Oct 26, 2026A divided Ninth Circuit panel rules against the administration, finding no jurisdiction because the district judge had not yet ruled ².
3. Oct 28, 2026Judge David Carter declines to order California to segregate up to 20,000 mail ballots ¹².
4. Oct 29, 2026Carter agrees to appoint a special master to evaluate the administration's claims, and the criminal inquiry and subpoenas are reported ¹.

Sources

1. The Guardian, “Trump administration opens criminal investigation over alleged noncitizen voting in California” (2026-10-29). theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/29/trump-administration-cal
2. NBC News, “Judge denies Trump administration request to segregate alleged noncitizen ballots in California” (2026-10-29). nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/judge-rules-californ

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