Featured 2026 Election Lawsuit: United States v. California

The Clearinghouse is tracking the United States' lawsuit against California challenging the state's alleged failure to adequately review and take action against a list of more than 20,000 registered voters that the federal government identified as likely noncitizens.  

On October 15, 2026, the federal government sued California and state election officials, alleging that the state failed to adequately address potentially ineligible noncitizens on its voter rolls and seeking emergency relief to prevent allegedly unlawful votes from being counted in the November 2026 election.  The district court denied the federal government's application for emergency relief on October 28, finding that 18 U.S.C. § 611, which criminalizes noncitizen voting in federal elections, did not authorize the federal government to compel California to alter its election procedures. The court also expressed concerns about the reliability of the government's list and the risk that segregating ballots shortly before the election would disenfranchise eligible voters and disrupt election administration.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court have rejected the government's subsequent emergency motions for injunctions pending appeal.  Read more about the lawsuit here.