California voter fraud fight sparks all-out war as state blocks federal demand: What are they afraid of?

California is blocking a federal audit of its voter rolls as the Trump administration ramps up its criticism of local elections.LA’s top federal prosecutor Bill Essayli said Sunday his office wants to scrutinize the state’s electoral system as eyebrows have been raised over a sudden surge in late votes for Democratic candidates.“California allows first-time voters to register using forms of ID that most Americans would find surprising,” Essayli wrote in a post on X Sunday, listing examples that included health club membership cards, employee identification cards, credit or debit cards, prescription drug labels and insurance cards.He noted those forms of identification are permitted under California regulations in limited circumstances when a voter does not provide a driver’s license number or Social Security number during registration.“Our office believes this policy deserves a closer look,” he wrote.“If California genuinely wants voters to trust its elections, it should open its records, not fight to keep them closed.

What are they afraid of?” Essayli also raised concerns about California’s voter rolls, questioning whether the state is adequately removing deceased voters, people who have moved away and individuals convicted of disqualifying felonies.“On top of that, California allows third parties to collect and turn in ballots on voters’ behalf (a practice known as ballot harvesting) with few restrictions,” he wrote.“This makes it difficult to track who actually received, completed, and submitted each ballot.”The federal government has been seeking access to California’s statewide voter registration list for more than a year as part of a review of the state’s compliance with federal election laws.Essayli’s post was shared with a copy August 2025 letter from the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, where federal officials requested the state’s voter registration list to evaluate compli...