Trump election fraud crackdown 2026

All six defendants are accused of a single charge each of making false statements on a naturalization application.

An immigrants' rights group found that more than 40% of the people flagged as potentially fraudulent voters could not be found on the state's voter rolls.

The DOJ is appealing the ruling that Essayli was unlawfully serving as head of the US attorney's office.

Markwayne Mullin said some of those arrested had criminal histories including assault with a dangerous weapon, domestic violence, drug trafficking, burglary, and driving under the influence.

DHS general counsel James Percival appeared on "My View with Lara Trump" on Saturday.

Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE arrested dozens of non-citizens who illegally voted in American elections.

The Justice Department on Sunday appealed a decision from Friday night by U.S. District Court Judge Trina L. Thompson that barred the department from demanding election offices remove possible noncitizens from voter rolls, separate their ballots or threaten legal action.

Alberto Lammers, a spokesman for UCLA's Voting Rights Project, said plaintiffs' counsel and their experts fully complied with the Court's orders.

On Friday, U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg allowed the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights access to federal government data on 20,000 people the Trump administration alleges are noncitizen voters in California.

Civil rights groups and unions representing election workers filed a legal complaint accusing the justice department of interfering in their duty to administer the election.

The justice department sent letters to the California secretary of state and Los Angeles County Registrar demanding they set aside ballots of 20,000 registered voters the Trump administration believes are likely non-citizens.

Trump criticized the ruling and said he would continue fighting for election integrity.

CHIRLA submitted an analysis to the court conducted by two data scientists from UCLA.

The Trump administration's list suggested as many as 20,930 likely non-citizens were registered on California's voter rolls.

A lawsuit was filed on October 15 calling on California to sequester ballots sent to those identified as likely non-citizens.

Kristin Connelly said she feels horrified at the prospect that her staff may leave their positions because of the DOJ threats.

The DOJ said in a statement it would not comment on the grand jury subpoenas but said that while it maintains a civil remedy is still available, all agree that noncitizen voting is properly addressed through criminal law.

Matt Morales said training for election workers and volunteers in Santa Clara County had to be updated to address de-escalation and safety protocols in the event of a disruption caused by law enforcement or federal agents in or around a vote center.

The order bars the justice department from demanding local election officials segregate or not count ballots that the federal government deems may have been cast by ineligible voters.

A federal judge barred the justice department from threatening or coercing election workers to stop processing ballots.

Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, warned that any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy.

ABC News obtained copies of the letters sent by the Justice Department.

The Justice Department sent letters to election officials in multiple states.

The DOJ warned election officials that they could face jail time if they fail to preserve election records in accordance with federal law.

U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote that never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch.

The Department of Justice issued grand jury subpoenas to local election officials in California as part of a criminal investigation into the state's voter rolls.

The New York Times first reported on the subpoenas to election officials in California.

Federal law requires voters in all states to attest under threat of imprisonment that they are U.S. citizens when registering to vote.

No state uncovered any coordinated effort to get noncitizens to vote in the 2024 election, according to CEIR records.

Eighteen states did not publicly disclose finding or removing any noncitizen from a voter registration list in the 2024 election.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said a preliminary review of the DOJ list found U.S. citizens and individuals not registered to vote.

Butte County election official Keaton Denlay found that 32 of 47 individuals on the DOJ list were not on the county's active voter rolls.

Federal prosecutors in Washington state accused state leaders of knowingly allowing some 400 noncitizens to vote this fall.

The Talarico and Paxton campaigns and the Potter County Republican Party did not immediately return requests from Al Jazeera for comment.

The plaintiffs acknowledged in their filing that no previous election in Potter County was altered by a third party.

The lawsuit claims that US adversaries including China, Iran, and Russia are capable of accessing election systems.

More than 3.7 million people had already voted in California, including more than 500,000 ballots already processed with the ballot out of the envelope, according to court filings.

California mails ballots to all 23 million of its registered voters.

U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli stated on X that the Solicitor General authorized an immediate appeal and that the DOJ would seek an emergency order from the Ninth Circuit.

Higby operates a YouTube account with 285,000 subscribers.

In 2024, O'Keefe and Project Veritas settled a lawsuit brought by a Pennsylvania postmaster after the group promoted a postal worker's false claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.

Moriarty said police interviewed the registered voters whose names O'Keefe and Higby used.

The Washington Post first reported that a grand jury refused to indict Hutchinson.

A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., refused to indict Cassidy Hutchinson on charges of lying to Congress.

Former special counsel Jack Smith said he opted not to treat Hutchinson as a material witness after determining much of her testimony was based on hearsay.

Many of the identified noncitizens are green card holders with legal immigration status and permanent residency.

Federal officials said many green card holders were registered to vote without their knowledge through Washington's Motor Voter program.

Of the dozens of suspects arrested, at least 18 had voted in a federal election.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said any attempt to disrupt or deceive election workers will not be tolerated.

O'Keefe and Higby posted a video in August showing themselves approaching election judges at multiple voting precincts in Minneapolis wearing burqas and speaking in fake accents.

James O'Keefe and Cam Higby are facing election-related charges in Minnesota.

Judge Carter said it would be wise that any threats to state and county elected employees cease immediately.

Los Angeles officials said a preliminary analysis of 200 names on the 20,000-person list included a high percentage of individuals who say they were born in the U.S.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit asking California to segregate roughly 20,000 ballots belonging to individuals it claims are likely noncitizens.

A DHS agent delivered the paperwork to Denlay's office at approximately 3:30pm on Friday.

The DOJ letter was signed by Eric Grant, US attorney for the eastern district of California.

The DOJ demand letter misspelled Denlay's name as "Danlay".

The US Justice Department charged 28 people in California who the department says are non-citizens who had illegally registered to vote.

It is illegal for non-citizens to vote in US federal elections.

The US Supreme Court lifted restrictions on the Trump administration using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (Save) database to identify voters suspected of being non-citizens.

Hutchinson was a former top aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Hutchinson's account of an alleged confrontation inside the presidential vehicle was disputed by other individuals familiar with the events.

The grand jury's decision not to indict Hutchinson does not establish whether her congressional testimony was truthful or false.

A federal appeals court declined to intervene in the California ballot matter.

Local officials in Los Angeles said a sampling of the 20,000 ballots surveyed showed a "high percentage" of people who say they were born in the U.S.

The Justice Department sued California to prevent the state from counting more than 20,000 ballots it claims may belong to noncitizen voters.

Floyd estimated that more than 1,500 ballots have been illegally cast by suspected noncitizens.

A hearing is set for Tuesday on the Justice Department's bid to force California to set aside mail ballots from registered voters on its list.

After Hobbs refused to turn over the information, the Trump administration sued the state to obtain the material.

Democratic state attorneys general expanded coordination efforts earlier in October 2026 to counter potential federal interference in the upcoming elections.

Donald Trump announced a $1 million reward for reports of voter fraud in past elections and the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.

In 2020, Texas Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick offered a $25,000 reward for election-fraud tips.

Trump's reward offer applies to voter fraud in past elections or in the upcoming midterm elections.

Trump has repeatedly made unfounded claims that there was voter fraud in past elections.

It is not clear where the money for the reward would come from.

Brad Raffensperger discussed election security and the political battle in Georgia as Election Day approached.

Brad Raffensperger is the Georgia Secretary of State.

Bonta said the DOJ acted at Donald Trump's direction.

Pete Aguilar is a congressman representing south-west San Bernardino county.

Gavin Newsom is California's governor.

The DOJ sent letters to every county in California asking local elections officials to help identify potential voters who may be in the U.S. illegally.

The Trump administration claims a district judge did not act quickly enough to address allegations of roughly 20,000 potential noncitizen voters on California's voter rolls.

The three-judge panel includes two Trump appointees and one Biden appointee.

The letter to San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters Joani Finwall included a list of 1,133 people identified as 'likely aliens.'

Senator Alex Padilla said Trump's DOJ has not provided evidence for claims of massive voter fraud and admitted the data is inaccurate and unreliable.

The Department of Justice sent letters to 57 of California's 58 counties on Friday demanding cooperation to identify noncitizens on voter rolls.

Earlier in the week, federal authorities charged 28 people from the list of 20,000 with illegally registering to vote.

Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Department of Justice said may belong to noncitizens.

At least 18 counties across California have received letters from the federal government regarding suspected noncitizen ballots.

The DOJ filed its emergency request after U.S. District Judge David Carter did not rule by a deadline previously requested by the department.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom defended the integrity of the state's elections and maintained that California was following the law.

California election officials argued that county election offices lack both the authority and access to federal records needed to verify voters' citizenship status.

The Justice Department said its effort to block the certification of Alaska's Senate race if the Republican incumbent loses was upholding the National Voter Registration Act.

The Justice Department went to court seeking to block the certification of Alaska's Senate race if the Republican incumbent loses.

Justin Levitt is a professor at Loyola law school in Los Angeles and a former deputy assistant attorney general.

Green card holders are ineligible to vote.

Muñoz is originally from Belize and has lived in the US for more than 50 years.

The DOJ has gone zero for 26 in cases seeking unredacted state voter lists.

Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters that DOJ would not get involved in how states tabulate votes and certify elections absent a doomsday scenario.

A federal court ruled that the Constitution does not allow the President to impose unilateral changes to federal election procedures.

According to legal filings, investigators were told to target naturalized citizens to see whether they had voted before they became U.S. citizens.

The Department of Justice sued 30 states that refused to turn over detailed and unredacted voter roll data and has lost each of those cases so far.

A federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration to halt investigations in nine states into whether noncitizens are registered to vote.

The judge's order will remain in effect until polls close on Election Day.

A federal judge ruled that DHS's practice of knocking on doors and asking people about their immigration status and whether they have voted likely violates the Voting Rights Act.

Beau Tremitiere is counsel at Protect Democracy.

The US Department of Justice charged 28 green card holders in California with fraudulently registering to vote and casting illegal ballots.

11 people are in custody following the arrests.

Shirley Weber said federal officials have spent months making vague and unsubstantiated allegations.

Los Angeles County Assistant Registrar Monica Flores said the DOJ's proposed process for segregating ballots would risk disenfranchising validly registered voters.

DHS has resisted state demands to share its methodology for matching voter rolls to non-citizen records.

DOJ spokesperson Kiersten Pels said that listing a US birthplace on a voter registration form does not mean someone is a citizen.

McCotter said DHS arrived at the list of 20,000 names by cross-referencing publicly available voter rolls in California with other government databases and public information.

Essayli announced that in the last seven weeks the DOJ has charged 113 people across 20 different states with illegal voting or illegal registration.

The DOJ filed suit against California on Thursday for failing to review the list and act on it.

A DOJ spokesperson said 21 of the 28 defendants had cast unlawful ballots.

The DOJ's lawsuit said it had sent California officials a list of more than 20,000 people who the federal government believes are likely noncitizens who were sent ballots by mail.

There are 23.1 million registered voters in California according to recent state figures.

The letters gave a two-day deadline for officials to confirm they were conducting a review and segregating potential ballots from individuals on the thumb drive.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber characterized the request as legally baseless.

Sean Morales Doyle of the Brennan Center said the Trump administration appears to be laying the groundwork to challenge results after Election Day.

Trump said zero illegal aliens have been admitted into the United States in the past 17 months.

Trump said Ossoff does not represent Georgia's values.

Trump said American voters would receive a $5,000 government check if Republicans hold the US House of Representatives.

The midterm elections are scheduled for November 3, 2026.

President Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullen claimed in July 2026 that California had 190,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls.

Election law scholar Richard Hasen of UCLA said the National Voter Registration Act bars systematic purges of ineligible voters in the 90-day period before an election.

Several Virginians reported receiving voting rights restoration notices addressed to deceased relatives.

The Democratic Party of Virginia backed Jones' new unit, arguing Trump is attacking voting rights and Virginia is not backing down.

Jones named Ajay Saini to lead the Voter Protection Section.

Logan said his office has not accessed the drive because doing so would conflict with established data privacy and information security protocols.

Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan said his office received a password-protected USB drive purportedly containing voter records but has not accessed it because of cybersecurity concerns.

Rob Bonta said there is no widespread voter fraud problem.

Authorities have not established that any of the cases identified in DOJ's nationwide tally changed the outcome of an election.

Louisiana accounts for five defendants.

Approximately 6,600 people who indicated they were not citizens were erroneously registered through New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission.

Sooknanan said the policy violated privacy laws and risked disenfranchising voters.

The lawsuit was brought by the government watchdog group Common Cause.

The justice department's list maintenance policy was adopted to comply with Trump's election integrity executive order.

The ruling sided with watchdog group Common Cause.

Twenty-six of the Justice Department's lawsuits against states for refusing to provide voter data have been dismissed.

Ming Cheung is a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project.

The Trump DOJ has filed charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center and journalist Don Lemon.

Hutchinson testified that Trump grabbed the wheel of his SUV to try to join supporters at the Capitol on January 6.

The DOJ filed a new indictment against Comey for posting a picture of seashells arranged to say "8647."

A Justice Department spokesperson said department election monitors comply with all legal and ethical requirements, including the requirement that they not interfere with the voting process.

Mark Gordon described the monitors' behavior as aggressive, unexpected, and disruptive.

Kristen Clarke said that during the primary season, monitors were deployed with no notice to the public or jurisdiction and no clear evidence that they were there for a legitimate civil rights purpose.

Among the lawmakers whose messages with White House personnel were obtained and reviewed were Sens. Chuck Grassley, Ron Johnson, John Cornyn, Josh Hawley, Mike Lee, Cory Booker, and Lindsey Graham.

JP Cooney, who served as Jack Smith’s principal deputy prosecutor, wrote in a 2021 exchange that he was an advocate for repealing the Speech or Debate Clause.

Cooney and Molly Gaston now work at the advocacy organization Democracy Forward.

Jackson said the claim that minorities and African Americans cannot get IDs to vote is deeply insulting and deeply offensive.

Don Palmer, senior legal fellow for election integrity with the Heritage Foundation, said the 30,000 number is actually quite low and undercounting the problem.

Jackson said he was not shocked by the 30,000 figure and wondered if the true number is higher.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented and wrote that the government had not done enough to show that the lower court ruling needed to be blocked.

The justices were divided 6-3 on ideological lines, with conservatives in the majority.

Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, said the ruling makes it easier for states to get federal citizenship data to help clean up voter rolls.

Don Palmer, senior legal fellow for election integrity at the Heritage Foundation, said one way forward is to upgrade driver's license agencies to improve verification of citizenship.

Reuters reported that more than 30,000 self-declared noncitizens were added to U.S. voter rolls since 2000.

Mike Lee said it should not be any easier to get away with voter fraud at a polling location than to cheat Olive Garden through its never-ending pasta pass.

The California supreme court called the seizure of the ballots unlawful.

The court's decision was unanimous.

Bianco was running for governor at the time of the ballot seizure but did not make it through the primary.

The Texas court of criminal appeals acquitted Crystal Mason in 2024.

Crystal Mason signed an affidavit saying she was eligible to vote, but maintained she did not read the language and was never told she could not cast a ballot.

Crystal Mason was on supervised release for a federal tax felony when she went to her polling place on election day in the 2016 presidential election.

A bill to make the division permanent passed the House.

The division was officially launched under acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Sen. Eric Schmitt introduced legislation to make the National Fraud Enforcement Division permanent.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said authorities are looking into more than 300,000 suspected cases.

Other cases involved defendants in Idaho, Georgia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Michigan.

Eight non-citizens residing in Texas were charged.