A federal fight over California’s voter rolls intensified Tuesday after Los Angeles County officials acknowledged in court that they cannot independently verify voters’ citizenship beyond the information voters provide on registration forms.

Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, called the disclosure a “massive concession” in an X post. His post highlighted a declaration opposing the Justice Department’s request to set aside mail ballots connected to suspected noncitizens.

“Massive concession: Los Angeles election officials just told a federal court they have no independent way to verify citizenship beyond what voters attest. (They simply take their word for it.)” Essayli wrote.

“Under federal law, only citizens may vote in federal elections. Yet California has not acted on the list of 20,000 suspected noncitizens or agreed to set aside their ballots. American citizens’ votes are being diluted in California.”

Essayli attached an excerpt from the court declaration addressing the federal government’s proposal that the registrar check the citizenship of every affected voter. The passage said the registrar lacked both the records and the authority needed to perform such verification independently.

“The Registrar is not equipped or authorized to verify voter citizenship because it does not independently house citizenship-related information beyond the voter attestation as identified in federal and state law,” the declaration stated.

Massive concession: Los Angeles election officials just told a federal court they have no independent way to verify citizenship beyond what voters attest. (They simply take their word for it.) Under federal law, only citizens may vote in federal elections. Yet California has not acted on the list of 20,000 suspected noncitizens or agreed to set aside their ballots. American citizens’ votes are being diluted in California.

— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) October 20, 2026

According to the declaration, the office does not independently maintain immigration, travel, or naturalization records. It also said California had not authorized the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, known as SAVE, for the 2026 general election.

The declaration further said the Justice Department had not explained what information it would provide to help the registrar determine whether the flagged voters were citizens. The filing therefore pushed back against the federal government’s requested review while confirming the county’s reliance on voter attestations.

The Justice Department sued California on October 15, seeking to stop the state from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters identified by federal agencies as likely noncitizens. The department wanted those voters’ citizenship verified before their ballots were counted.

California officials challenged both the evidence behind the federal list and the government’s demand for a review within 48 hours. The declaration does not establish how many people on the list actually voted.

On Monday, the Justice Department announced criminal charges against 28 lawful permanent residents. They were accused of illegally registering to vote, falsely claiming U.S. citizenship to register or vote, or unlawfully casting ballots in federal elections.

Prosecutors alleged that most of the defendants voted after fraudulently registering. Authorities arrested 11 defendants that day, and the Justice Department said all 28 appeared on the list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizen registrants.

At least 20,000 noncitizens are registered to vote in California, not 28. The 28 were just those arrested yesterday. This does not mean the other 19,972 are lawful voters.

The arrests prove our list is accurate and that noncitizens are actually voting. Our goal is to prevent California from counting the ballots of noncitizens, not to arrest all 20k on the list. — F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) October 21, 2026

The California dispute is not the only election-related concern described in the proceedings. Another issue involves ballots cast in the names of eligible voters without their permission, conduct documented in a previous federal prosecution.

In New Jersey, Atlantic City political organizer Craig Callaway received a two-year prison sentence in July 2025 for a fraudulent mail ballot scheme. Prosecutors said ballots collected by Callaway or his subordinates were cast under the names of people who said they had neither voted nor authorized anyone to vote for them, and many were counted.

A separate controversy surfaced in Maine after Maine Wire editor Steve Robinson posted a photograph that he said showed Somali translators helping elderly Somali voters in Lewiston. Robinson said reporter Jon Fetherston witnessed the assistance the previous day.

Yesterday in Lewiston: @TheMaineWire Reporter @MaineWireJon watched Somali “translators” help several elderly Somalis vote.

Notably, all the “translators” work for taxpayer-funded NGOs and Medicaid agencies. This is how you turn a working class town into a Dem stronghold. https://t.co/RHWSFpRSkT — Steve Robinson (@SteveRob) October 20, 2026

Robinson said the translators worked for taxpayer-funded nongovernmental organizations and Medicaid agencies.

Maine permits voters who need help reading or marking a ballot to receive assistance, with restrictions governing who may provide that help. The assistance must follow the voter’s wishes.

The Los Angeles declaration leaves the central federal dispute unresolved, but its description of the registrar’s limitations is now firmly in the record. For Essayli, the county’s dependence on voter attestations amounts to the concession he says exposes the weakness of California’s citizenship verification process.

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