WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Sunday defended the accuracy of a list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens registered to vote in California and recommended a federal judge consider whether an immigrant rights group and its attorneys should face contempt charges after releasing an analysis of the list.
READ MORE: Analysis: More than 40% of names on DOJ’s list of alleged non-citizens are not on California voter rolls
On Friday, U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg allowed the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) to obtain federal data on 20,000 people the Trump administration claims are noncitizen voters in California. Washington, D.C.-based Boasberg ordered the plaintiffs not to reveal any names on the list and to use the data only to argue why they have legal standing to challenge the Trump administration’s use of the data.
Lawyers for immigrant rights groups filed court documents on Saturday showing their analysis found more than 40% of people on the list did not appear in the state’s voter files. The report also noted that 22 people on the list may have become naturalized U.S. citizens, and said there appeared to be thousands more U.S. citizens on the list.
The Justice Department said in a filing Sunday that the immigrant rights group’s analysis was irrelevant to the group’s legal status and therefore violated Boasberg’s order.
“The report’s political grandstanding, involving alleged inaccuracies that have a pervasive impact on California voters, or comparing government lists to the full ‘California voter file’ has nothing to do with the qualifications of the specific plaintiffs in this case,” the report said.
The document also recommends that Boasberg refer the matter to the Justice Department for investigation into possible contempt of court.
“Plaintiffs’ attorneys and their experts fully complied with the court’s order,” Alberto Lammers, a spokesman for the UCLA Voting Rights Project, which files the lawsuit and conducts data analysis for immigrant rights groups, said in an emailed statement.
READ MORE: Appeals court rejects Justice Department request to force California to set aside disputed ballots
In a separate case, the Justice Department on Sunday also appealed a Friday night ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Trina L. Thompson. The San Francisco judge’s ruling bars the department from requiring elections offices to remove potential noncitizens from voter rolls, separate ballots or threaten legal action. The Justice Department noted that Thompson ruled before the federal government made its preliminary arguments.
Thompson scheduled a hearing on the appeal for Monday.
The case is one of many the Trump administration has lost in so-called non-citizen voter roll battles. A federal judge in California rejected a request that state election officials be forced to separate the ballots cast by these voters, writing that such a last-minute order could “wreak havoc” on the state’s elections. Two appeals judges agreed.
California election officials also claim the list is riddled with errors and say they are unable to complete the painstaking work required by law to remove voters from the rolls days before the election. People prove they are U.S. citizens when they register to vote and risk felony prosecution if they vote while ineligible.
The government says its list is carefully compiled from the state’s own voter registration data and compared with federal citizen records. The Justice Department issued a series of subpoenas to California election offices and warned election officials who knowingly allow non-citizens to vote could face criminal charges.
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