Trump Administration Threatens to Prosecute California Election Workers Over Noncitizen Ballots
The Justice Department, the federal agency that brings federal criminal cases, has warned California election officials that they could face criminal investigation and prosecution if they process ballots from suspected noncitizen voters.
The warning came in a letter from senior Justice Department officials to California election officials. The letter was described as sent on a Friday, and the Guardian reported on it on October 16, 2026. The letter said officials who process ballots from suspected noncitizen voters risk criminal investigation and potential prosecution, according to The Guardian.
ABC News reported that the administration warned local election workers they could become accomplices to a federal crime if they process ballots from noncitizens.
Three days later, PBS NewsHour reported that the Justice Department had charged more than two dozen foreign nationals in a California sweep targeting noncitizen voters. The department said election workers who knowingly process or tabulate ballots submitted by noncitizen voters are at risk of investigation and potential prosecution.
On October 21, NPR's Fresh Air program aired an interview with Rick Hasen, an election law expert, about President Donald Trump's actions on the integrity of the voting system. NPR described the interview as covering Trump's threat that local officials could face criminal prosecution unless they remove alleged noncitizens from voter rolls before the midterm elections.
The administration's effort builds on earlier actions. In March 2025, the White House issued a presidential action titled "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections." A White House fact sheet from that month said the Election Assistance Commission would require documentary, government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship on its federal voter registration forms.
In March 2026, the White House issued another presidential action, "Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections." It states that the right to vote in federal elections is reserved exclusively for U.S. citizens under the Constitution and federal law.
Federal prosecutors have also brought a series of cases. In October, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina unveiled ten federal indictments alleging that ten people falsely claimed to be U.S. citizens to register and vote in the 2024 general election. Earlier, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas announced charges against seven non-citizens in what it called a sweeping federal election integrity operation.
Reuters reported on September 23 that Trump was ramping up noncitizen voting prosecutions ahead of the midterms, and that studies show the practice is rare.
