Over 40% of names on DOJ’s California noncitizen voter list not on state rolls, filing says

More than 4 in 10 names flagged by the Trump administration as possible noncitizen voters in California cannot be found on the state’s voter rolls, according to a legal filing, Independent reports. UCLA data analysts reviewed the 20,930 names the Department of Justice demanded California election officials treat as possible illegal voters. They found 8,880 names, or 42% of the list, do not match anyone in the current voter file.

The filing, made on Saturday by immigrant rights group CHIRLA and UCLA’s Voting Rights Project, said nearly 7,500 naturalized citizens were “highly likely” to be incorrectly flagged as ineligible. Justice Department spokesperson Kiersten V. Pels wrote in an email: “Every ballot cast by an ineligible voter cancels out the vote of an American citizen.”

Multiple judges have rejected the demand as unconstitutional and a threat to democracy. On Friday, a federal judge ordered the Justice Department to stop sending demands to state officials, and the administration appealed on Saturday.