DOJ sues California to block votes from alleged non-citizens

​The US Justice ‌Department on Thursday ​sued California, asking a federal judge to block the state from counting mail ballots ‌for the November midterm elections from more than 20,000 voters the Trump administration alleges are likely non-citizens.

The lawsuit comes after Reuters reported that ‌the department gave California a 48-hour deadline on Tuesday to review ‌a list of alleged non-citizen voters, provided on a thumb drive, that the department said had been sent mail-in ballots by California. Letters addressed to California Secretary ⁠of ​State Shirley Weber ⁠and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan demanded that the state and county segregate ⁠returned mail-in ballots from voters on the Justice Department's list and not tabulate ​their votes "until citizenship has been determined."

In cases where ballots ⁠have not been sent out yet, the Justice Department ordered California officials to ⁠withhold ​them from those on the list until their citizenship is confirmed. The lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Central District ⁠of California, seeks a court order preventing California from "tabulating in federal elections ⁠vote-by-mail ballots received" ⁠from voters on the list, which the DOJ said included more than 20,000 voters, until their ‌immigration status is ‌verified.