The Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing Orange County, California, over allegations that the county has failed to provide full documentation showing that election officials are actively removing noncitizens from the voter rolls.
Federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Robert Page, the Orange County Registrar of Voters, accusing him of refusing to comply with Department of Justice requests for records related to the removal of noncitizens from voter registration rolls. According to a DOJ press release, the administration also claims Page is violating the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) by failing to properly maintain an accurate and up-to-date voter list.
“Voting by non-citizens is a federal crime, and states and counties that refuse to disclose all requested voter information are in violation of well-established federal elections laws,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said in a prepared statement.
“Removal of non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls is critical to ensuring that the State’s voter rolls are accurate and that elections in California are conducted without fraudulent voting,” Dhillon continued. “The Department of Justice will hold jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal voting laws accountable.”
Acting on a complaint from a relative of a noncitizen in Orange County who allegedly received an unsolicited mail-in ballot, the Attorney General’s office requested that Registrar Robert Page provide extensive documentation, according to the DOJ’s lawsuit.
The Justice Department specifically asked for the number of voter registrations canceled in Orange County since January 2020 due to citizenship requirements, along with detailed information related to each cancellation.
According to the lawsuit, Page responded to the DOJ’s request on June 16 by providing a portion of the requested documentation. However, federal prosecutors claim the materials were heavily redacted, omitting key information such as California driver’s license and ID numbers, Social Security numbers, and other essential data.
Prosecutors argue that these redactions prevented the Attorney General’s office from determining whether Orange County was properly removing noncitizens from its voter rolls and complying with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The Attorney General’s office warned Page that he had until June 20 to submit the unredacted records or face legal action. On June 23, Page’s legal counsel notified the DOJ that he would not comply.
The central dispute between the two parties is whether Page has the legal authority to invoke California law to withhold certain personal information from the Department of Justice. Federal prosecutors argue that federal law takes precedence over state law, and therefore Page is obligated to comply with their records request.
Home to more than three million residents, Orange County is a key swing region in an otherwise reliably blue state. In the 2024 election, voters there chose Vice President Kamala Harris over President Donald Trump by fewer than three percentage points—a significantly narrower margin than her double-digit win statewide, according to official election results.
