With just over a week until the midterm elections, the federal administration continues to press election officials in California to prevent non-citizens from casting ballots.
The Department of Justice recently sent a letter to several election offices across the state—including San Francisco, Santa Clara County, Los Angeles County, and more than a dozen others—demanding they set aside and verify ballots the DOJ claims may belong to non-citizens.
In the Bay Area, officials confirmed receipt of the directives. The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters received a letter Friday asking for assistance in identifying 902 registered voters in the county who are likely not citizens. The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California demanded that the registrar’s office submit identifying information, including Social Security numbers associated with those names, within 48 hours.
The letter also warned the county that sending vote-by-mail ballots to individuals on the list or tabulating ballots cast by them would constitute a federal crime.
“This certainly is a unique letter that we’ve gotten,” said Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters Matt Moreles. “I can’t recall my 20-plus years in this county of receiving a letter like this from the Department of Justice.”
Moreles provided few details about how the county plans to respond, stating, “Right now we are reviewing the letter internally and with county leadership and will determine the next steps after that.”
San Francisco also received a similar letter. In a statement, a spokesperson for City Attorney David Chiu’s office said: “San Francisco is confident in its elections and processes all registration information according to local, state and federal laws. This is clearly another ploy to interfere with the election 11 days before election day. We are reviewing the information and will determine any appropriate next steps.”
Voters reacting to the news expressed concern over potential voter intimidation and targeting.
“I think it’s a way to target a certain community of people. I don’t think it’s right or fair,” said Olukemi Lawan of San Jose.
Edward Espiritu of San Jose added, “I think he’s trying to intimidate blue states. I’m sure he’s not doing this at election offices in red states…”
NBC Bay Area reached out to the DOJ for comment on why the letters were dispatched, but has not yet received a response. Some election officials and voters told reporters they are concerned the effort could deter eligible residents from participating.
