Jail threat over California counting of mail-in votes

RTHK - Oct 17, 2026

The US Justice Department has warned Los Angeles County and California election officials they could be liable as abettors of a federal crime if they count mail ballots returned by more than 20,000 people the Trump administration says are probably noncitizens. The warning to the Los Angeles county assistant counsel Peter Bollinger came less than three weeks before the November 3 midterm elections and days after the department gave California 48 hours to review a list of alleged noncitizen voters or face legal action. On Thursday, the Justice Department sued California to block the state from counting the ballots. "Noncitizen voting in a federal election is a federal crime – and knowingly facilitating such conduct is equally unlawful," Trent McCotter, the acting US deputy attorney general, wrote in a letter released on Friday. McCotter called on the county and California's secretary of state to reconsider their refusal to take steps that the Trump administration argues are needed to deter voter fraud. US President Donald Trump shared the letter on Truth Social with the comment: "They will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!" California secretary of state Shirley Weber and Los Angeles county registrar-recorder Dean Logan were copied on McCotter's letter. Weber's...

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