Add StudioX as a preferred source on GoogleA new court filing has raised fresh doubts about a list of “likely non-citizen” voters that the administration of US President Donald Trump sent to California before the midterm elections, Al Jazeera reports, citing its own staff and The Associated Press.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), an advocacy group, submitted the analysis on Saturday. It was prepared by two data scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
What the analysis found
According to the filing, 8,880 names on the list do not appear anywhere in California’s current voter files. That is 42 percent of the names.
The analysis also found that thousands of potentially eligible US citizens were wrongly identified as ineligible to vote. Many other names were either confirmed as citizens or may belong to citizens.
The administration delivered the list in early October. It suggested that as many as 20,930 “likely non-citizens” were registered in the state.
The filing argues that demands made on election officials under criminal and civil threats endanger the voting rights of CHIRLA’s members and clients. It was co-signed by Xavier Becerra, the Democratic candidate to succeed Governor Gavin Newsom.
The lawsuit and the courts
The list is the basis of a lawsuit filed on October 15. It asks California to sequester ballots sent to those “likely non-citizens” so they would not be counted.
On Friday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected the administration’s complaint for a second time. It found the complaint unconstitutional. The court’s majority said it would not undermine the plain text of the Elections Clause.
Under that clause of the US Constitution, election administration falls to the states, although Congress may pass regulations on voting. Critics, including Newsom, have pointed to this in rebutting the lawsuit.
The administration has also threatened state officials with prosecution over the potential for non-citizen voting.
Wider context
All 50 states already prohibit non-citizen voting in federal elections and take steps to prevent voter fraud, which Al Jazeera describes as exceedingly rare. Other states that received similar lists have also found significant errors. Nevada found that none of the names on its list were non-citizen voters.
Those errors have raised concerns that eligible citizens could have their votes denied if the administration wins in California.
The case is unfolding days before Tuesday’s midterm elections, which will decide which party controls the US Congress, along with key state and local offices. California, the most populous US state and long considered a left-leaning stronghold, will elect 52 of the 435 members of the House of Representatives.
Trump has said he fears he could be impeached if his Republican Party loses its majorities in both chambers of Congress. Al Jazeera notes that he has a record of spreading false information about elections, including claims that his 2020 defeat was the result of a “rigged” vote. He has also accused California of “cheating” in its June 2 primary, after several Republican candidates underperformed, including Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt.
Source: Al Jazeera
Harnaik Singh Rathor is the Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of StudioX News Canada, Canada's multilingual digital news network serving multilingual diaspora communities across Canada. With a background in media production, public relations, and multicultural communications, he founded StudioX Film and TV Corporation to bridge the gap between mainstream Canadian media and the country's diverse immigrant communities. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), RTDNA Canada, CPRS Vancouver, NEPMCC, and the Canadian Freelance Union (Unifor). Based in Surrey, British Columbia. | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harnaiksinghrathor/ | Muck Rack: https://muckrack.com/harnaiksinghrathor | Email: editor@studioxnews.ca
