On 15 October 2026 the United States filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief in the Central District of California, United States v. State of California, Shirley N. Weber and Dean C. Logan, No. 2:26-cv-12025. Defendants are the State, the California Secretary of State and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. The Justice Department’s Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California signed the pleading.

Federal law makes it a crime for a noncitizen to vote in a federal election: 18 U.S.C. § 611(a). California law requires mail ballots to go to every registered voter (the complaint cites Cal. Elec. Code § 3000 series). Those ballots, the filing says, are not split between federal and state contests and do not warn aliens that federal voting is illegal.

The complaint says DHS partners compiled a list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizens on California’s rolls who were sent vote-by-mail ballots for the federal election, and that California declined to collaborate on citizenship checks.

What the United States alleges

  • Months before October mailing, the Federal Government told California’s Secretary of State that a preliminary review found numerous likely noncitizens on the rolls and asked for collaboration; California “made no serious effort,” the complaint says (Exs. A–B).
  • California began mailing vote-by-mail ballots to all registered voters in early October, including, the United States alleges, people on that federal list.
  • On 13 October 2026 the Federal Government provided a list of over 20,000 names that USCIS and HSI believe are noncitizens registered to participate in the federal election (Exs. C–D) and again asked for review.
  • The United States seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction barring tabulation of federal election vote-by-mail ballots from people on that list until citizenship is verified, plus related declaratory relief under the Supremacy Clause / preemption theory tied to § 611.
Citizen impact: If the court grants the injunction, ballots from the listed names would be set aside in federal contests until citizenship is checked — slowing or blocking those votes while the list is processed. California’s automatic mail-ballot system is the mechanism the complaint attacks, not a new federal registration statute. Who gains if DOJ wins interim relief: citizens concerned about noncitizen federal ballots being counted. Who is burdened: listed voters who are in fact citizens (false positives on a “likely noncitizen” list) and county clerks who must segregate ballots. The complaint’s “likely noncitizen” label is the government’s allegation; the court has not found that any named person is a noncitizen or that any illegal vote was cast.

What this piece refuses

Do not write that “20,000 noncitizens voted” or that a court has already ordered ballots discarded. The filing is a complaint; the number is the government’s list of people it believes are likely noncitizens who were sent ballots. Do not invent match-error rates or claim California “admitted” the list. Do not treat the U.S. Attorney’s press release as substituting for the complaint’s allegations.

Bottom line

Verified as of 16 October 2026 from the filed complaint (Doc. 1) and DOJ / CDCA press materials: the United States has sued California to stop tabulation of federal vote-by-mail ballots from a federal list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizens until citizenship is verified. Watch the preliminary-injunction briefing calendar and any California response on the list’s accuracy.