DHS says voter-roll figures overstated noncitizen numbers

Among voters whose birthplace was meaningfully reported, 38.9% indicated U.S. birth

The Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged that noncitizen figures the department touted on voter rolls were inflated, NPR reported Tuesday. Los Angeles County officials said a preliminary review of 200 records indicated a Justice Department list of roughly 20,000 people labeled likely noncitizens was unreliable.

Los Angeles County officials said they selected 200 people to gauge the reliability of the federal data. Monica Flores, the county’s assistant registrar-recorder, wrote: “The review is preliminary and quality control is continuing, but it indicates that the October List is unreliable.”

Of the sampled voters whose birthplace was meaningfully reported, Flores wrote, “38.9% indicate that they were born in the United States, which is strong evidence of citizenship.” NPR reported that it was unclear how many sampled people fell into that category and which records listed a place of birth. NPR said it had asked the Los Angeles County clerk’s office for clarification but had not received a response by Tuesday evening.

California and local officials submitted the new details in Tuesday court filings responding to a Justice Department lawsuit. NPR described the federal demand as an unprecedented step: California was being asked to investigate people on the list before votes were counted and segregate associated ballots. California said the request would be unfeasible this close to the election and would likely violate federal and state election laws. The state wrote: “At best, this litigation is a reckless political stunt. At worst, it threatens to disenfranchise thousands of Californians this election.”

The Justice Department delivered the list to Los Angeles County last week on a thumb drive. The list covered roughly 20,000 people whom Department of Homeland Security investigators said were likely noncitizens and registered to vote somewhere in California. County officials initially declined to open the drive, citing the security threat of inserting a device of unknown origin into a government computer. The Justice Department emailed a spreadsheet containing the same list the next day.

Only 7,035 of the 20,000 names had addresses in Los Angeles County, according to a Tuesday filing by Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan. Some entries were duplicates.

The county filing also said 112 of the 200 reviewed records were associated with people whose registrations were canceled or inactive. Around 70% of the sampled voters had no voting history.

The California Secretary of State’s website asks registrants online for their place of birth, although the field is not mandatory. NPR reported that, except for extremely narrow exceptions, anyone born in the United States automatically receives citizenship.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter acknowledged at a Monday press conference that the federal list could contain errors. He said: “There may be some names on there who it turns out ultimately are citizens, we’re not perfect. And that’s why we’ve asked California to cooperate with us.”

In response to questions about the county’s initial analysis, Justice Department deputy press secretary Kiersten Pels said: “California cannot facilitate the violation of federal law.” Her statement continued: “We notified California that noncitizens are likely registered to vote, and we asked the state to independently verify the citizenship of any ballots cast by people on a list that we provided. It refused to do so. Federal law doesn’t permit this willful blindness.”

NPR reported that the Trump administration had generally defended its methodology for finding noncitizen voters without fully explaining it publicly. NPR also reported that other numbers federal officials, including President Trump, had recently released on the issue of noncitizen voting had been shown inaccurate in other cases. In related coverage, NPR characterized the Justice Department’s voter-fraud focus as involving a “murky assist” from DOGE.

On Monday, the Justice Department announced criminal charges against 28 people on the list. NPR reported that it appeared some of those charged may have registered without understanding that the conduct was illegal. All 28 were legal permanent residents, also known as green-card holders.

Kamlesh Shah, 68, told Sacramento TV station KCRA 3 that he thought he was able to vote because he had a Real ID. “I’m feeling very depressed, very full of anxiety. I’m disabled. I’ve got so much problems in my heart, my condition, so it’s going to give me more stress,” Shah told KCRA 3. “I’m very upset. I’m trying to get an attorney, hopefully I can have the charges dismissed.”

Research cited by NPR has shown that in rare cases when noncitizens vote, it is often green-card holders who misunderstand the rules rather than commit intentional fraud.

The county’s preliminary reliability findings add a documented dispute to the federal litigation MSI covered in its earlier reports on the Justice Department’s demand for California and the lawsuit seeking to block ballot counting.