Justice Department Subpoenas Los Angeles County Election Officials

The U.S. Justice Department has issued subpoenas to three employees of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's office. The documents, sent on October 21, order the staff to appear in court on November 4, the day after the general election. This move marks a sharp escalation in the federal government's scrutiny of local election administration in California.

The subpoenas request records, documents, and communications related to letters sent by federal officials in July and October. Those letters outlined allegations that noncitizens appear on the state’s voter rolls. The federal team is also seeking information on the county's methods for screening for unlawful voting by aliens. Additionally, the documents ask for details on efforts to prevent noncitizen votes from being counted. All four U.S. attorneys in California issued the subpoenas, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Dean Logan, the Los Angeles County registrar, reacted to the legal action with a public statement. He said that threats and intimidation have no place in elections. The subpoenas arrive during an active court battle over the handling of ballots. The Trump administration has sued to force California to set aside up to 20,000 ballots it suspects went to noncitizens. The administration wants to hold those ballots until citizenship can be verified.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter rejected the request to set aside the ballots on Tuesday. On Thursday, he appointed Daniel B. Garrie as a special master. Carter did not specify the exact scope of Garrie's responsibilities but stated he would develop the factual record for the court. Carter said he wanted to vet the federal government’s list of over 20,000 alleged noncitizen voters. He noted that there has been extensive debate over the list's reliability and that both sides agree it includes an unspecified number of citizens.

Carter also indicated that the special master could investigate California’s claims regarding logistics. The state argues it cannot separate the ballots in time for the county election certification deadline on December 3. The federal government has contested that assertion. It is not clear what would happen if the special master found a substantial number of noncitizen voters on the list. The 20,000 people on the Justice Department’s list constitute a small fraction of California’s 23 million voters.

The Trump administration has asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to weigh in quickly. In a filing submitted late Wednesday, the Justice Department argued that a ruling is essential because irreversible ballot processing is occurring on an ongoing basis. Carter’s decision is the latest legal setback for President Donald Trump in his efforts to expand federal control over state-run elections. The administration has made similar demands in other states, including Washington. Trump blasted Carter's ruling on Thursday morning before heading to a campaign rally in South Carolina.

Trump told reporters that California is very corrupt and that the elections are extremely corrupt. He stated that the judge should not have done that but that the administration would appeal. He added without evidence that there are hundreds of thousands, or in his opinion millions, of bad ballots in California. Carter, a Clinton appointee, argued that the Justice Department's demands violate the National Voter Registration Act. That law prohibits changes to voter rolls or election procedure within 90 days of an election. Both sides agree that an unspecified number of citizens were inadvertently included in the Justice Department's list.

Carter argued that separating the ballots now risks disenfranchising citizens and wreaking havoc on the election certification process. Over 500,000 votes have already been processed in Los Angeles County alone, according to court filings. The system protects voter privacy because a vote cannot be traced back to the person who cast it once processed. Carter will rule on the government’s renewed request for a preliminary injunction after a November 13 evidentiary hearing. Federal authorities have already charged over two dozen foreign nationals in California as part of a statewide sweep. Two of the three judges on the appeals panel previously wrote that they would not support setting aside ballots at this late date, questioning the accuracy of the federal list.