CHIRLA and UCLA Voting Rights Project Ask Court to Stop Justice Department from Targeting California Voters
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alberto Lammers, alberto@uclavrp.org
CHIRLA and UCLA Voting Rights Project Ask Court to Stop Justice Department from Targeting California Voters
With voting already underway, the emergency motion challenges a federal demand targeting voters identified as alleged noncitizens less than three weeks before Election Day
LOS ANGELES (October 15, 2026) — Attorneys with the UCLA Voting Rights Project (VRP), including Senior Advisor Xavier Becerra, and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), representing CHIRLA and California voter Pedro Trujillo, today filed an emergency application for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction asking a federal court to stop the Department of Justice from using a list of alleged noncitizens to withhold or segregate California voters’ ballots.
Immediately following the filing this morning, the court directed the parties to confer and submit a joint status report by October 16 proposing a briefing schedule and addressing whether a hearing is necessary. The emergency motion remains pending.
The emergency motion follows an October 13 letter in which the Justice Department gave California officials 48 hours to review the federal list or face legal action. According to the motion, federal officials provided the state officials with a thumb drive containing the names of people they believe are noncitizens who received mail ballots. DOJ directed election officials to withhold ballots from those on the list or segregate returned ballots and not count them.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to prevent the federal government from using the list while the lawsuit moves forward. If the court does not grant that request, they are asking for protections that would allow affected voters to learn whether they have been included and provide documentation confirming their citizenship before their ballots are excluded.
“The federal government does not have the constitutional authority to take control of California’s elections or dictate which ballots state and local officials should count,” said Chad Dunn, legal director of the VRP. “With voting already underway, eligible citizens should not have their ballots withheld based on a federal list they have never seen and have had no opportunity to challenge. We are asking the court to intervene before voters suffer harm that cannot be corrected after Election Day.”
“As citizens, including many naturalized CHIRLA members, are preparing to solemnly exercise their constitutional right to cast a vote in the ongoing elections, the Federal Government is threatening at this late hour to extinguish their opportunity to do so,” said Carl Bergquist, CHIRLA General Counsel. ”The letter sent to California election officials necessitated our move to shield these rights, and to prevent the mass disenfranchisement of lawful citizens, some of whom are exercising this right for the very first time.”
The motion argues that the federal government’s demand exceeds the authority granted to the Executive Branch and would force California election officials to violate the National Voter Registration Act, which prohibits systematic voter-removal programs during the 90 days before a federal election.
The plaintiffs have requested immediate relief because California officials were directed to respond to the Justice Department by noon Eastern on October 15. The court may rule on the written filings, request a response from the federal government or schedule a hearing.
Read the emergency motion here and the court order here.
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Background
CHIRLA filed the lawsuit on September 2, 2026, challenging the federal government’s use of databases—including the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system—to identify registered voters as alleged noncitizens and pressure states to alter their voter rolls. The lawsuit alleges that the process inaccurately targets naturalized citizens, infringes voters’ constitutional and privacy rights, and unlawfully interferes with state election administration.
ABOUT the UCLA Voting Rights Project
The UCLA Voting Rights Project was established to protect equal voting rights for all Americans through strategic litigation, social science research and policy advocacy. The VRP seeks to ensure that all individuals are afforded equal access to the electoral process and representation in governance. For more information about the UCLA Voting Rights Project, please visit vrp.ucla.edu.
