Bonta disputes DOJ demand to check 20,000 California ballots

The 2026 midterm elections are less than two weeks away, and a dispute over ballot verification is now heading to the appeals court.

Federal prosecutors asked California election officials to verify citizenship status for roughly 20,000 ballots within 48 hours. The request targets voters the Department of Justice believes may be noncitizens. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the move was improper and driven by political goals.

Bonta told the television network MS Now that the department was politicizing and weaponizing the law to attack its enemies. He stated that the Justice Department was acting at the direction of President Donald Trump. The attorney general noted that officials received only names for the 20,000 individuals without any explanation of why they were supposedly ineligible.

County officials in Los Angeles warned that the directive could remove eligible citizens from the rolls. They reported that a high percentage of the people on the federal list were born in the United States. Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the effort on social media, calling it an absolute clown show. He said the department sent counties lists of people who never voted and voters from the wrong county.

The Justice Department framed the request as a measure to secure the vote. A department statement said it was asking county officials to provide information so the Department of Homeland Security could quickly verify citizenship status. The agency claimed the cooperation would ensure the most secure election in California history. This action is part of a wider Republican push to crack down on alleged voter fraud.

Recent legal actions support the federal position. The department charged 28 foreign nationals with fraudulently registering to vote. Bill Essayli, first assistant US attorney, said the arrests proved that California was mailing ballots to noncitizens. He noted that the defendants are lawful permanent residents who hold legal status in the United States but are not citizens.

Some state officials took no action on the letters sent Friday because of the rapidly approaching election. That inaction set off a legal fight with the Justice Department. An appeals court is scheduled to hear the matter on Tuesday.