LIVE: Los Angeles Officials Announce Criminal Charges in California Illegal Voting Cases | AC1Z

Summary

Federal and local officials announced criminal charges against six people accused of illegally registering and voting in California elections. The federal prosecutor said five were in custody and the sixth was expected to be taken into custody. He described two cases, including one involving a Canadian national alleged to have voted in the 2022 and 2024 general elections. He said the cases involved people who later made allegedly false statements about their voting histories during naturalization applications. Officials said all six people charged in the announcement had cast ballots.

The prosecutor said federal agencies had reviewed California voter-registration records and assembled a list of 20,000 people they believe are noncitizens, based on immigration records. He called that number a minimum and said the review was labor-intensive. Agencies were checking identities and eligibility case by case, including investigating possible identity theft. He acknowledged that many people on the list are legal immigrants and emphasized that being referred for investigation is not proof of a crime.

San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow announced a separate felony complaint against a man accused of registering and voting while ineligible. Dow said his office was also reviewing 16 other referrals. He stressed that the accused is presumed innocent and that each case must be assessed independently. He argued that citizenship is a constitutional requirement for voting in California and called for stronger verification and enforcement.

Officials urged California to use the federal SAVE system to verify voter eligibility, saying it could resolve questions about citizenship more quickly. They also criticized state officials for not cooperating. In response to a question about a UCLA analysis of the voter list, the federal prosecutor dismissed the report’s findings and questioned its methods and whether it complied with a court order.

The federal prosecutor said the Justice Department had filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent ballots linked to suspected noncitizens from being counted if their ineligibility is confirmed. He said officials were seeking emergency action from the U.S. Supreme Court to keep those ballots separate while the issue is reviewed, warning that once ballots are separated from their envelopes and mixed with others, they may be impossible to identify. He argued that close elections could be affected, while reiterating that the immediate goal was to prevent noncitizens’ votes from being counted—not to prosecute every person on the list.

Presenters and Contributors

• Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney
• Erin Burke, Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge
• Dan Dow, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney
• Unidentified reporters asked questions during the briefing.