Judge orders the US Justice Department to hand over list of alleged noncitizen voters in California

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered the Justice Department to hand over to two outside groups a disputed list of California voters it claims may not be U.S. citizens.

The ruling is the latest in an expansive legal battle between the federal government and the state ahead of the fast-approaching midterm elections. Millions of people in California have already voted in the election that concludes Tuesday.

Washington D.C. Chief District Judge James E. Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to share the list with lawyers for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and the UCLA Voting Rights Project. They want the list so they can examine who is on the list and assess its impact on eligible voters. It will be the first time that a nongovernment organization will have the opportunity to evaluate the merits of the list of some 20,000 names. State officials say it is highly unreliable and likely includes many people who are U.S. citizens.

Prosecutors with the Trump administration have argued that there is just as much to lose from noncitizens illegally voting, arguing that to tally those votes would dilute the voice of citizens.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment on Friday morning on whether it planned to appeal. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra is an adviser to the UCLA Voting Rights Project.

The two groups sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in early October to prevent the department from using federal immigration data to challenge state voter rolls. The lawsuit cited examples in other states where the federal government's data has been proven to mistakenly include thousands of citizens. It argued that the data-matching methods risk disenfranchising or deterring citizens from voting. On top of that, plaintiffs argued, the lists could disproportionately target naturalized citizens who are legally entitled to vote.

The ruling is the latest setback for the Trump administration's escalating fight with California over the eligibility of voters in the heavily Democratic state. The Justice Department in mid-October asked a federal judge to require that California elections officials separate any ballots received by voters on its list and not count them until citizenship can be verified.

That case is before an appeals court after a district judge forcefully rejected the federal government's request.

Hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been processed. Elections officials have said that processed votes are completely anonymized and can’t be matched back to the voters who submitted them.

The ruling comes amid broader federal scrutiny of local elections , with the Trump administration issuing a raft of subpoenas in Alaska in a spoiler-candidate controversy. The Justice Department has also provided a list of alleged noncitizen voters to officials in Washington state.

A coalition of unions on Friday joined the growing list of groups challenging the federal government's efforts in California.

The unions, including the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, are asking a federal judge to temporarily block the Justice Department from demanding that local officials stop counting ballots and to drop threats to criminally prosecute officials who do not comply with their demands.

The top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, has warned that “any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy.”

On Thursday the Associated Press obtained subpoenas issued to election officials in Los Angeles County. The subpoenas request any documents and communications related to letters sent in July and October by federal officials to state election officials outlining the allegations about noncitizen voters. They also seek any information about efforts to prevent noncitizen votes from being counted. At least three LA County election officials have been asked to appear before a grand jury on Nov. 4, the day after the election.

The lawsuit accuses the Justice Department of issuing threats against election officials that could interfere with their ability to process votes.

It is unclear whether the Justice Department intends to bring criminal charges against anyone. The department does not typically subpoena people whom it regards as targets of a criminal investigation to appear before a grand jury.