Justice Dept. sent subpoenas to L.A. election officials. What that means and what happens next
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- Multiple workers from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Reporter have received subpoenas from the Department of Justice as part of a probe into alleged voting by noncitizens.
- The orders seek to compel the L.A. County workers to testify before a grand jury and hand over any evidence related to efforts by the Registrar-Reporter office’s to block noncitizen voting.
- A lawsuit filed on behalf of the L.A. County workers by a union seeks to block the DOJ’s investigation and the Supreme Court may ultimately decide whether the case can move forward.
The war over California’s elections intensified late this week after three Los Angeles County officials were slapped with criminal grand jury subpoenas related to their handling of thousands of state ballots, which the Justice Department has demanded be set aside amid claims they could be cast by noncitizens.
Labor unions and voting rights groups hit back, sending a fresh wave of action into the tempest of federal lawsuits already swirling around the ballot clawback order. The storm surged back through the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday morning and appeared on a path to the U.S. Supreme Court, which would decide whether to hear the case.
Voting by noncitizens is exceedingly rare, law enforcement experts and elections officials say. Yet the Trump administration has doggedly pursued claims to the contrary. Under the subpoenas, L.A. County officials are being ordered to hand over troves of internal documents — emails, text messages and other material — related to their handling of the administration’s demand to sequester 20,000 contested ballots.
Federal grand jury subpoenas have demanded that county election officials turn over internal communications and testify, raising concerns that investigations could intimidate workers.
The subpoenas also order them to produce any evidence they may have collected “which tends to indicate an alien has voted.”
Prosecutors charge that widespread noncitizen voting disenfranchises Americans by diluting their lawful votes.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters Dean Logan and hundreds of workers who report to him are heading into Tuesday’s election under the cloud of criminal investigation, with department bureaucrats ordered to appear in federal court in Santa Ana on Wednesday morning.
“Threats and intimidation have no place in elections,” Logan said.
Who has been subpoenaed and what do the orders seek?
So far, at least three workers from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office have been summoned as part of the probe, though the Associated Press reported that prosecutors in all four of California’s federal districts were sending out similar orders.
The Justice Department already subpoenaed thousands of voter records from state and local officials related to claims that noncitizens were voting en masse in California. Now, prosecutors are seeking virtually any written communication from within local election offices about how they responded to those demands to identify and remove such voters, including lists of employees who were told of the directive.
Courts have questioned the reliability of the Justice Department‘s list of potential noncitize voters.
Additionally, the workers must hand over any communications — including self-deleting texts from apps such as Signal — related to the office’s efforts to block noncitizen voting.
Federal prosecutors issued criminal grand jury subpoenas to three L.A. County election officials, demanding they appear in court the day after the election.
The subpoena also demands any evidence the city might have collected indicating even a single noncitizen has voted in an election, as well as details about anyone who might have “aided and/or abetted” them.
“When California has actual knowledge of noncitizens in their voter rolls, if they help them vote, they are now aiding and abetting a criminal offense,” California Central District First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli told Fox News this month.
He doubled down with a post on social media this week, saying his office “will hold accountable anyone who unlawfully participates in our elections and those who aid them.”
Is the Los Angeles County registrar of voters under criminal investigation?
Maybe.
Logan has not been subpoenaed, but the subject of a criminal investigation typically is not subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury because the Constitution’s 5th Amendment protects people from having to testify against themselves.
The Justice Department declined to comment on whether or not Logan might be prosecuted.
“While DOJ maintains that a civil remedy is still available, all agree that noncitizen voting is properly addressed through criminal law,” a spokesperson said.
Instead, the threat of prosecution hangs over virtually any worker who processes ballots the Justice Department might seek to contest.
“They will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!” President Trump posted on social media as the fight ramped up this month.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ruled that the administration’s allegations were “not credible” and that the intervention it sought would violate a host of federal laws.
A lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of workers by the Service Employees International Union and its partners called the subpoenas part of “a coordinated campaign to intimidate, threaten, and coerce state and local officials and employees who are engaged in the hard and important work of administering the ongoing midterm 2026 election.”
The union’s suit also alleged that thousands of California voters could be disenfranchised if courts don’t block the federal government’s efforts “to coerce them into halting the processing and counting of ballots.”
“Threatening these election workers with criminal prosecution for faithfully executing their responsibilities in accordance with federal and state law is plainly illegal and, unless enjoined, risks disenfranchising tens of thousands of lawfully registered voters,” the suit said.
Elected officials also rushed to condemn the move.
“The Trump Administration’s escalating attacks on our hardworking elections officials in California are unacceptable,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta wrote on social media.
Can the subpoenas be blocked?
That depends.
An expected order from the Supreme Court could neuter much of the Justice Department’s demand, as the bulk of what officials have been asked to hand over relates to the 20,000 contested ballots whose fate will be decided in Washington, D.C.
The union suit also asks the court to shield election officials from prosecution for counting ballots, which effectively could block the underlying criminal investigation.
Will my vote be counted?
State and local officials have vowed to run the election as usual. The courts have so far supported their effort, with a panel of 9th Circuit judges writing Friday that they “decline the United States’ invitation to contravene the Elections Clause by undermining the Constitution’s plain text.”
The judges — two Trump appointees and one nominated to the bench by President Biden — ruled 2-1 in favor of California.
“If the United States believes different procedures are necessary for vote-by-mail ballots, we believe it should take that suggestion to Congress, not the courts,” the panel held.
Several green card holders arrested in a Trump administration crackdown on alleged California voter fraud appeared in court Monday, with some saying they had no recollection of ever registering to cast ballots.
That decision, handed down just before noon Friday, all but ensures the issue will reach the Supreme Court and be decided there before polls close Tuesday.
But with hundreds of thousands of ballots already returned and hundreds of thousands more moving through the mail over the weekend, the legal fight still could cause delays. And a ruling for the Justice Department from the Supreme Court could snarl the process further.
“Major concerns remain that granting the United States’ requested relief might result in immense hardship to Defendants and harm the public interest by risking the disenfranchisement of eligible voters and putting the entire tabulation process in jeopardy,” the 9th Circuit panel wrote.
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