The Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing Orange County, California, for allegedly not handing over all documentation proving election officials are actively removing noncitizens from their voter rolls.
Federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Robert Page, who serves as the Orange County Registrar of Voters, for allegedly refusing to comply with DOJ requests to provide records on the removal of noncitizens from the country’s voter registration list, according to a press release from the department. The administration further alleges that Page is violating the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) by failing to maintain an accurate voter list.
“Voting by non-citizens is a federal crime, and states and counties that refuse to disclose all requested voter information are in violation of well-established federal elections laws,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said in a prepared statement.
“Removal of non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls is critical to ensuring that the State’s voter rolls are accurate and that elections in California are conducted without fraudulent voting,” Dhillon continued. “The Department of Justice will hold jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal voting laws accountable.”
Acting upon a complaint from a relative of a noncitizen in Orange County who allegedly received an unsolicited mail-in ballot, the Attorney General’s office requested Page had over a trove of documentation, according to the DOJ’s lawsuit. The DOJ requested the number of voter registration records in Orange County that were canceled since January 2020 because of citizenship requirements, and accompanying information regarding each cancelation.
Page responded to this request with a chunk of related documentation on June 16, according to the lawsuit. However, prosecutors are alleging that his office redacted pertinent information, such as California driver’s license and identification card numbers, Social Security numbers and other critical details.
The redactions made it impossible for the Attorney General’s office to accurately assess whether Orange County was sufficiently removing non-citizens from their voter rolls and acting in compliance in HAVA, prosecutors argue.
The Attorney General’s office warned Page that he had a deadline of June 20 to hand over the un-redacted information — or else face a lawsuit. On June 23, Page’s counsel informed their office that he would not be complying.
“The County does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation,” a spokesperson for the Orange County Registrar of Voters stated to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Despite its decision to not offer comment, the Orange County Registrar of Voters did provide the DCNF with email correspondence between their office and the DOJ.
At issue between the two parties is whether Page has the authority to cite California law to withhold certain personal information from the DOJ. Prosecutors, on the other hand, argue federal law supersedes state law, thus Page must comply with their request.
With a population of over three million people, Orange County serves a major swing county in an otherwise-reliably blue state. Orange County voters chose Vice President Kamala Harris over President Donald Trump by less than three percentage points in the 2024 election, a far closer outcome than the double-digit victory Harris garnered statewide, according to election results.
“By not complying with federal requests, we have unfortunately and unnecessarily forced the hand of the Department of Justice,” Supervisor Don Wagner, a Republican, said in a public statement. “By placing roadblocks and refusing to comply, instead arguing that we are following state law, we invited this lawsuit.
“The county’s only interest is in having the cleanest possible voter rolls so that every eligible voter may vote, but only eligible voters may vote,” Wagner continued.
The DOJ announcement is the latest in the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to keep noncitizens out of U.S. elections, waging several lawsuits and making administrative reforms in the name of election integrity.
The agency filed a lawsuit against North Carolina in May for allegedly failing to maintain a voter registration list compliant with federal laws. Federal prosecutors under his administration have also gone after a growing list of noncitizens, including illegal migrants, who have allegedly participated in U.S. elections.
Additionally, the Trump administration in May unveiled a new partnership with the Social Security Administration to ensure “a single, reliable source for verifying immigration status and U.S. citizenship,” per a memo previously obtained by the DCNF.
These efforts have already appeared to bear fruit. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced in June that his office opened up an investigation into 33 potential noncitizens suspected of voting thanks to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump allowing state officials better access to a federal database that helps identify an individual’s citizenship or immigration status.
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