DOJ asks California counties to segregate disputed ballots

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked California counties to help identify voters it considers likely noncitizens and to set aside ballots if citizenship cannot be confirmed, giving officials 48 hours to respond to its request for information. The letters, sent Friday to 57 of California’s 58 counties, seek voter registration records and personal information, including Social Security numbers and identification details. Los Angeles County received similar notice earlier. The department asked counties to work with federal officials to determine the citizenship status of people on its lists and to segregate, not cancel, ballots while status is checked. A letter to San Bernardino County identified 1,133 people as likely noncitizens. That is the number on the federal list, not a verified count of ineligible voters or ballots cast. The Justice Department has not established that everyone listed is ineligible to vote or participated in an election. Federal prosecutors warned that election officials who knowingly process ballots cast by noncitizens could face legal consequences. California officials and court filings dispute the reliability of the federal data and argue that...