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Justice Department says group's California voter analysis violated court order

ABC News reports the Justice Department defended a list of more than 20,000 suspected California noncitizen voters and suggested contempt charges against an immigrant rights group and its lawyers.

Updated Nov 2, 2026 · 03:23 UTC8 reports

The short version

  • The Justice Department defended a list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizen voters in California and suggested contempt charges against an immigrant rights group and its lawyers.[ABC News]
  • A federal judge had allowed the group, CHIRLA, access to the data, barring disclosure of names and limiting use to legal standing arguments.[ABC News]
  • The Justice Department says the group's analysis violated that order, while a UCLA Voting Rights Project spokesman says plaintiffs fully complied.[ABC News]
  • Separately, the Justice Department has appealed a ruling by Judge Trina L. Thompson restricting its actions toward California election offices.[ABC News]

Key facts

  • The Justice Department defended the accuracy of a list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens registered to vote in California.[ABC News]
  • U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg allowed CHIRLA access to federal data on 20,000 people alleged to be noncitizen voters, restricting disclosure of names.[ABC News]
  • CHIRLA's attorneys said in court papers that their analysis found more than 40% of people on the list do not appear in California's voter file.[ABC News]
  • The group's analysis identified 22 people on the list who were likely naturalized U.S. citizens and said thousands more U.S. citizens appeared on it.[ABC News]
  • The Justice Department argued the analysis violated Boasberg's order because it was unrelated to legal standing, and suggested a criminal contempt referral.[ABC News]
  • The Justice Department appealed a ruling by Judge Trina L. Thompson that bars it from demanding election offices remove possible noncitizens from voter rolls, separate ballots, or threaten legal action.[ABC News]

What remains uncertain

  • Whether the group's analysis violated Boasberg's order is disputed; the Justice Department says it did, while plaintiffs' counsel say they fully complied.[ABC News]
  • The accuracy of the government's list remains unresolved in the reporting, which relays the Justice Department's defense without independent verification.[ABC News]
  • The 40% and naturalized-citizen findings come from the plaintiffs' own analysis and are not independently verified in the reporting.[ABC News]

Sources

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.