Exclusive | LAs top federal prosecutor says California elections already in jeopardy

Los Angeles’ top federal prosecutor fears noncitizens could be illegally casting ballots in California as dozens of polling places opened across LA County Saturday, warning the state could be trying to run out the clock before disputed votes are counted.First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli told The California Post it’s “very highly likely” noncitizens have already voted, as the Justice Department fights to have California set aside ballots tied to more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens.“If you look at California’s own papers, they said they’ve already processed over 300,000 ballots just for LA County.So this is going on as we speak,” Essayli said, warning that more disputed ballots could be cast as the lawsuit plays out in court.Essayli and US Attorney General Todd Blanche are leading the Justice Department’s push for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to force California to set aside the disputed ballots and verify voters’ citizenship before counting them.The battle centers on a list of more than 20,000 people that California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan did not review within the department’s requested timeframe.As the federal and state officials battle in court, with oral arguments set for Sunday, Essayli worried that California’s continued efforts to fight the DOJ’s order will lead to untold illegal votes being tallied.“Our biggest fear is they’re just going to try to run out the clock until all the ballots have been processed, in which case there will be nothing we’ll be able to do after the election,” Essayli said, citing recent state election results with razor-thin margins.

“Once they count the ballots, there’s no way to go back and undo that.”On Saturday, early in-person voting for the Nov.3 election began at 123 vote centers across LA County, with hundreds of additional locations scheduled to open next weekend.“When you vote in person, it’s even more c...