DOJ Ballot Demands Reach Sierra, Plumas, and Nevada Counties

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Sierra, Plumas, and Nevada counties have received letters from the United States Department of Justice as part of a federal effort to set aside mail ballots from people the government believes are likely noncitizens ahead of the November 3 election.

Sierra County Clerk-Recorder Melissa Kinneer said the county is coordinating with county counsel on how to respond. She declined to provide further information at this time, including how many people are listed in Sierra County’s letter.

In Plumas County, Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters Marcy DeMartile said the federal demand identified two people. In a release emailed October 27, she said neither had submitted a ballot to her office. She said the county would try to respond to the letter but would refuse to set those ballots aside if they arrive.

DeMartile said the demand was hand-delivered to her office at approximately 3:30 PM on Friday, October 23. It gave her 48 hours to commit to working with the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security to determine the citizenship of the people listed, she said.

The October 22 letter, signed by United States Attorney Eric Grant of the Eastern District of California, asks the county to set aside mail ballots from listed people whose citizenship it cannot independently confirm. It warns that election officials risk “significant federal scrutiny and legal exposure” and argues that state election procedures cannot supersede federal criminal law.

The letter also asks Plumas County to provide nonpublic registration records for the two people, including any Social Security numbers, state identification or driver’s license information, voter registration applications, and supporting documents the county holds. It says those records would help federal agencies and the county determine citizenship.

DeMartile disputed the sufficiency of the evidence supplied with the demand. She said the federal government had offered an assertion that the two people were likely noncitizens, without evidence establishing that they lacked citizenship.

DeMartile cited California Elections Code Section 15106, which places the burden on someone challenging a mail ballot to establish “extraordinary proof of the validity of the challenge” when making it. She said the federal letter fell short of that standard.

“Please know that Plumas County will attempt to respond to the demand letter, but based on the law, cannot, and will not, take any action to set aside or segregate these ballots should they be submitted,” DeMartile wrote.

Nevada County’s elections office said in an October 24 statement that it had reviewed 10 names flagged by the Justice Department. The county said it received a hand-delivered demand letter October 23 and was preparing a formal response in consultation with county counsel.

“We are correctly following all applicable state and federal laws,” Nevada County Registrar of Voters Armando Salud-Ambriz said in the statement.

The county letters follow an October 15 Justice Department lawsuit against California and its election officials over a statewide list of more than 20,000 people federal agencies believe are likely noncitizens registered to vote. The department is asking a court to require officials to separate returned mail ballots from people on the list and verify their citizenship before counting them.

The Department of Homeland Security said its agencies compared voter-registration information with federal immigration data and used additional data checks to identify potential noncitizen registrants. Federal officials argue that the requested ballot separation would enforce the prohibition on noncitizens voting in federal elections.

California officials have challenged both the reliability of the list and the federal government’s authority to impose that process. In an October 26 statement, Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said a preliminary Los Angeles County review of 200 names found that more than half had canceled or inactive registrations. Some records also listed a United States birthplace, according to the court record.

The Justice Department appealed on October 22 after United States District Judge David O. Carter did not rule by the department’s requested deadline on its emergency bid to halt counting of mail ballots from people on the federal list. In a court filing, the department argued that the delay effectively denied its request.

On October 26, a divided United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed the appeal, saying it lacked jurisdiction because the department had not given Carter adequate time to rule. The lawsuit is still pending before Carter, who scheduled an October 27 hearing on the emergency request.

Editor’s note: This article was updated with additional information from the DOJ letter to Plumas County.