US President Donald Trump has voted early in his home state of Florida for the November 3 midterm elections, casting his ballot alongside his wife, Melania, as the Republican Party battles to maintain control of Congress.
The couple cast their votes ahead of a scheduled campaign appearance by the president at a rally in Georgia.
The vote comes less than a fortnight before Election Day, as the Department of Justice intensifies scrutiny over state voter rolls, warning election officials across California that they could face federal investigation and criminal exposure if they refuse to help identify suspected noncitizens and segregate their mail-in ballots pending citizenship checks.
According to letters dated Friday, local officials were given 48 hours to help ascertain the citizenship status of individuals on federal government lists.
Bilal Essayli, first assistant US attorney for the Central District of California, warned counties that processing ballots without verifying citizenship risks "significant federal scrutiny and legal exposure", adding that officials who knowingly count them risk becoming "aiders and abettors to a federal crime".
Federal pressure
The directives draw from a previously distributed list of 20,000 individuals alleged by the Justice Department to be noncitizens registered to vote.
For individuals whose "citizenship status cannot be confirmed, we request that you immediately instruct the appropriate elections official to segregate — not cancel — those individuals' vote-by-mail ballots until their citizenship status can be determined," Essayli wrote.
Federal figures cite 1,754 suspected noncitizens registered in Orange County, 1,355 in Riverside County, 1,133 in San Bernardino County, 407 in Contra Costa County, 334 in Ventura County, 180 in Santa Barbara County, and 63 in San Luis Obispo County.
Versions of the letters were sent to all 58 California counties, the New York Times reported, following earlier warnings issued on October 16 to Los Angeles County.
The push reflects broader White House efforts urging federal agencies to accelerate reviews of at least 47 state voter rolls obtained by the Department of Homeland Security.
California officials have firmly rejected the move, pointing out that federal agencies have provided no evidence showing how the individuals were identified.
"This letter came to us 11 days before Election Day with an unenforceable 48-hour deadline," said Dawn Kruger, a spokesperson for Contra Costa County's Elections Department.
