Justice Dept. sues California, seeks to stop state from counting 20,000 ballots – Los Angeles Times

Justice Dept. sues California, seeks to stop state from counting 20,000 ballots  Los Angeles Times

The Trump administration on Thursday sued California over its handling of voter fraud claims, asking a federal court to immediately bar the state from counting ballots from about 20,000 voters statewide — many in Los Angeles County — whom the administration alleges are "likely noncitizens." The lawsuit is highly unusual, particularly given that California voters have already begun voting in the Nov. 3 midterms via mail ballots, experts said. It's also "meritless," highly inappropriate and based on questionable federal data that have proved wildly inaccurate in other states, state officials said. "This is a sad, desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day," Gov.

Gavin Newsom wrote on X. "Courts have made clear the federal government has no role in running state elections. We will defend free and fair elections in the Golden State and call out every authoritarian attempt to undermine our democracy." "Every count, recount, hand count, lawsuit, and audit has found that there’s no widespread voter fraud in the U.S.," California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta wrote on X. "The Trump Admin’s last-minute demands are meritless, and we look forward to making our case in court." U.S. Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche, in his own statement, defended the lawsuit. “State-facilitated voter fraud is unacceptable in