Bonta Sues to Block Federal Demand for 48-Hour Ballot Audit

California election officials face a federal deadline to verify the citizenship status of approximately 20,000 voters within 48 hours, a requirement that state leaders say could strip eligible citizens of their right to cast ballots in the upcoming midterm elections.

The Department of Justice issued the directive to counties less than two weeks before the vote. Federal prosecutors stated they need this information to allow the Department of Homeland Security to quickly confirm citizenship status. The department described the measure as necessary to ensure the most secure election in California history.

Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit on Saturday to challenge the order. He accused the federal government of politicizing the law to attack political opponents. Bonta told MS Now that the Justice Department was acting at the direction of President Donald Trump. He noted that officials received only a list of names without any explanation of why those individuals were supposedly ineligible to vote.

Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the federal request on social media, calling it an absolute clown show. He reported that the department sent counties lists that included people who never voted and residents from the wrong county. Los Angeles election officials warned that a high percentage of the people named on the list were born in the United States.

The legal dispute centers on a list of roughly 20,000 ballots tied to suspected noncitizens. While noncitizen voting is rare, the Justice Department has increased prosecutions of individuals accused of voting without US citizenship. The department recently 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 who refused to comply with federal law.

The 28 defendants in the new case are lawful permanent residents. They hold legal status in the US but are not citizens eligible to vote. State officials initially did not respond to the federal letters sent Friday, citing the rapidly approaching election date. This inaction triggered the current legal fight.

An appeals court is scheduled to hear the matter on Tuesday. The outcome will determine whether the 48-hour verification window remains in effect or if the state can delay the process until after the midterms.