Federal prosecutors are pursuing grand jury subpoenas against California state and local election officials as part of an investigation into alleged illegal voting ahead of next week’s midterm elections, officials said Thursday.
The subpoenas signal an expansion of the Trump administration’s efforts to demonstrate that thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote in California.
A federal official said grand jury subpoenas had been issued to local election officials across the state, according to published reports. In a statement, the Justice Department emphasized that receiving a subpoena does not mean an individual is a target of a criminal investigation.
The DOJ’s moves followed a ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who rejected the federal government’s request to segregate 20,000 mail ballots cast by voters the administration alleged were noncitizens. Carter also questioned the reliability of the methods used by the administration to identify the alleged undocumented voters.
The judge warned the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California against threatening election officials.
Federal prosecutors recently sent letters to officials in 57 of California’s 58 counties, telling them to cooperate with investigations into alleged illegal voting or risk becoming subjects of investigations themselves.
At least two employees of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office reportedly received grand jury subpoenas last week.
Dean Logan, the county’s voting registrar, called the subpoenas an act of “intimidation” in a statement.
“Judge Carter’s admonishment about threats directed at election officials on Tuesday was well placed and appreciated,” Logan said.
“At every step, the U.S. Department of Justice has taken a confrontational, adversarial approach,” he added. “Election officials are acting in accordance with state and federal law.”
In Orange County, Registrar of Voters Bob Page said he received a subpoena Thursday seeking unredacted voter registration information for 60 potential registrants, the Southern California News Group reported.
Page told the news organization that his office plans “to provide responsive documents for the subpoena.”
Registrars in Riverside and San Bernardino counties had received a similar subpoena as of Thursday afternoon, spokespeople for those offices told the SCNG.
