Federal Voter-Fraud Push Targets California Ballots

Federal authorities kept demanding that California set aside 20,000 ballots from voters whose citizenship they questioned, even as people cast their ballots Tuesday. Courts had blocked the administration from compelling the state to act before the election, but a U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel lifted a lower-court order late Monday and early Tuesday. The federal pressure campaign didn’t stop when polls closed.

Rick Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA School of Law, credited “a ton of hard work from lawyers, election administrators and civil society” with preventing the feared intervention. California officials had warned for months that the Trump administration might disrupt the election. Federal immigration agents didn’t swarm polling places. FBI agents didn’t seize ballots. About 1,000 federal election monitors caused little fuss. Legal challenges, court rulings and public pressure helped block the intervention election experts feared.

Who Gets to Control the Vote

A separate court, backed by another 9th Circuit panel and the U.S. Supreme Court, had rejected the administration’s bid to force California to act before the election. Judges said the Constitution gives states and Congress—not the executive branch—the power to shape elections. They also said federal law bars systematic voter-roll checks right before an election, but lets authorities pursue individual cases through criminal prosecutions.

Now the administration has chosen that prosecutorial route. Federal prosecutors sent subpoenas to elections officials in Sonoma and Santa Clara counties, seeking information about alleged noncitizen voters and records showing how officials responded to earlier Justice Department requests to set aside ballots. Los Angeles County officials had received similar subpoenas earlier.

The people caught up in that process appeared in federal court Monday. One defendant wore shackles at the waist as a loved one cried. Another, shackled at the ankles, sobbed as family members embraced her after her release. Moria Dahan, 35, an Israeli national living in West Hills, appeared shackled at the ankles and used a Hebrew interpreter. Prosecutors alleged she illegally registered and voted in 2024, then made false statements on naturalization papers. Her attorney, Tiffany Feder, said forms mailed to Dahan’s home confused her because of her language barrier. “I don't think she really knew what they were,” Feder said. Dahan has withdrawn her naturalization petition. Feder said Dahan “did not intend to defraud” and urged people to ask whether those accused understood what they were filling out.

Prosecution as Election Policy

A day before the election, First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli announced charges against six more lawful permanent residents in Los Angeles County. They joined 28 others charged statewide; federal authorities had flagged all 34 among the 20,000 voters. Essayli said the government lacked the ability and resources to arrest everyone on the list. He also said prosecutors were “teaming up with our local law enforcement” and district attorneys.

San Luis Obispo County Dist. Atty. Dan Dow announced a felony complaint against a 31-year-old man accused of voter-registration fraud, perjury and fraudulent voting. Dow said 16 more investigations were “nearing a charging decision.” Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer wrote that election fraud in his county “will be prosecuted.” Hasen said whether prosecutors would bring new cases against election officials remained unclear. He said California officials wouldn’t be “cowed” and would fight in court. County officials in Los Angeles, Sonoma and Santa Clara said they would answer federal inquiries while keeping their commitments to election law and opposing federal overreach.

The midterms also gave Democrats control of Congress, with the party taking power in January. Trump said he was willing to work with them, while Democrats threatened investigations into administration officials and alleged corruption and influence peddling. Yet the election’s limits show up in the numbers: overriding a veto requires 290 House votes and 67 Senate votes. Democrats could win more than 240 House seats and add to their current 54 Senate seats, but they would still fall short of those thresholds without Republican support.

Moderates helped Democrats win Republican-held territory, while progressive proposals to expand the Supreme Court or make Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico states face difficult paths. Government funding expires Dec. 11. A shutdown could follow. The FISA Section 702 program continued without congressional approval, while intelligence services urged Congress to reauthorize it. Party negotiations, vetoes and institutions keep lawmakers’ choices bounded and control concentrated at the top.

Essayli said courts had made clear that “the preferred remedy for election law violations is criminal prosecution.” Acting Deputy Atty. Gen. Trent McCotter said, “Anyone who's voting unlawfully, voting illegally, they will be caught and we will prosecute them.” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin put it more bluntly: “If you vote illegally, we will find you.”