What local election officials found in Trump’s new claims about California voters – KPBS

What local election officials found in Trump’s new claims about California voters  KPBS

The Trump administration is demanding that almost every California county review its claims that noncitizens are registered to vote. Some of the information appears outdated, officials said. Election officials from across California questioned the accuracy of the federal government's methodology for finding noncitizen voters after the Trump administration threatened them with criminal charges last week. The counties on Friday were given 48 hours to commit to working with federal authorities and to segregate ballots from a list of people federal authorities claimed were likely noncitizens. The letters said the list of names were from the same group of 20,000 people that the Trump administration flagged as noncitizens and then sued California over, demanding that state officials not count those ballots until they verify the voters’ citizenship.

State officials have questioned the accuracy of the data and have refused to comply, saying the federal government risks disenfranchising thousands of voters in an attempt to illegally meddle in state elections. On Tuesday, a federal judge appeared skeptical of the Trump administration’s legal arguments. Meanwhile, the letters counties received last week threatened potential criminal charges for election officials who “knowingly tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens.” Butte County Clerk-Recorder Keaton Denlay said he received one such letter and a demand to not count ballots from a list of