Los Angeles County officials just admitted in a federal court filing that they have no way to verify voters' citizenship beyond simply taking their word for it.
On Tuesday, Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, posted a screenshot on social media of a federal court filing in which county election officials acknowledged that they are neither “equipped” nor “authorized” to verify a voter's citizenship.
“The Registrar is not equipped or authorized to verify voter citizenship because it does not independently house citizenship-related information beyond the voter attestation as identified in federal and state law (such as, among other things, immigration records, travel records, naturalization records, etc.)” wrote Monica Flores, assistant registrar-recorder for the Candidate and Voter Services Bureau of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office.
Flores added that officials are “certainly not equipped to do so within the election period.”
Massive concession: Los Angeles election officials just told a federal court they have no independent way to verify citizenship beyond what voters attest. (They simply take their word for it.) Under federal law, only citizens may vote in federal elections. Yet California has not acted on the list of 20,000 suspected noncitizens or agreed to set aside their ballots. American citizens’ votes are being diluted in California.
— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) October 20, 2026
"Massive concession: Los Angeles election officials just told a federal court they have no independent way to verify citizenship beyond what voters attest. (They simply take their word for it.)" Essayli wrote on X. "Under federal law, only citizens may vote in federal elections. Yet California has not acted on the list of 20,000 suspected noncitizens or agreed to set aside their ballots. American citizens’ votes are being diluted in California."
🚨 HOLY CRAP!! Los Angeles election officials just admitted in federal court they have NO way to check whether voters are actually citizens beyond taking their word for it — after DOJ flagged 20,000 likely noncitizen ballots in the midterms They also admit California hasn't authorized the federal SAVE citizenship database for this election, and the Registrar has no direct access to federal citizenship data 🤯 SHUT IT DOWN. From the Registrar's own sworn declaration: it "does not independently house citizenship-related information beyond the voter attestation." So the check is you "pinky promise" DOJ sent LA a list of 20,000+ suspected noncitizens who were mailed ballots. LA wouldn't even open the thumb drive. UNREAL This is EXACTLY why we need the SAVE America Act! California must be watched and the courts must force them to sequester these ballots!
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 20, 2026
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office was quick to fire back, arguing that the state does, in fact, follow federal law, specifically, the “Motor Voter” provision of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), which permits California to rely on a voter’s sworn statement rather than independent documentary or database verification at registration.
But if anything, that response only underscores the problem: California is touting its compliance with the law as though that alone is enough to ensure that noncitizens don’t vote in elections. It isn’t. In other words, state officials seem content to do the bare minimum, rather than independently verify citizenship to ensure that the prohibition on noncitizen voting is actually enforced.
"California adheres to Federal Law passed by Congress in the 1990s [see 52 U.S.C. 20504(c)(2) (Section 5 of the NVRA)]," Newsom's press office wrote on X. "May want to brush up on your election law before tweeting. Perhaps Second Assistant is more apt from now on?"
California adheres to Federal Law passed by Congress in the 1990s [see 52 U.S.C. 20504(c)(2) (Section 5 of the NVRA)] May want to brush up on your election law before tweeting. Perhaps Second Assistant is more apt from now on?
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) October 20, 2026