Los Angeles (AP) — Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Department of Justice said may belong to noncitizens, according to the Los Angeles County registrar and a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
The letters are the latest escalation in a legal battle between California and President Donald Trump's Department of Justice, which has recently focused on the state in its efforts to root out noncitizen voting ahead of the midterm elections. Data shows illegal voting by people who aren't U.S. citizens is incredibly rare, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races.
Earlier this month, the federal government targeted Los Angeles County and the California Secretary of State's office in a lawsuit that aimed to block them from counting the votes of roughly 20,000 people who are “likely” noncitizen voters. A hearing on the case is scheduled for Tuesday.
The Trump administration asked the 9th Circuit court of appeals to rule on the lawsuit barring a decision from the district judge assigned to the case. They set a deadline for Saturday.
Now, according to the LA County registrar’s office, at least 18 counties across the state have received similar letters. They have been given a 48 hour deadline to provide identifying information corresponding with ballots that the federal government believes were sent to noncitizens illegally registered to vote. The letter requests that county officials also sequester any ballots where citizenship cannot be verified.
“Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.
The Justice Department is asking counties to send information about the voters it suspects are noncitizens including social security numbers, ID information, a copy of their registration and more.
That information can help the government and state quickly assess each person suspected of illegally registering to vote, said the letter sent to San Bernardino County voting officials. The letter says the government's list of suspected noncitizen voters includes 1,133 people from the inland Southern California county.
California’s secretary of state and the Los Angeles County registrar have opposed the federal government’s demands. In legal filings, lawyers for California say the request threatens to delay the certification of the vote and undermine the legitimacy of the November midterms. They have also argued that the federal government's data is unreliable and that their demands risk disenfranchisement of citizens.
Voting is underway in California, with the state's more than 23 million registered voters receiving ballots in the mail earlier this month. The state said in legal filings that over 330,000 mail-in ballots have already been counted.
The letters on Friday came on the heels of statewide sweep by federal authorities earlier in the week, where 28 people from the list of 20,000 were charged with illegally registering to vote. Some were also charged with illegally voting and lying on naturalization paperwork. Those charges could lead to years in prison.
Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter stands next to a display showing photos of people charged with illegally registering to vote during a news conference in Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A few inches here or there, combined with some smarter baserunning by Victor Mesa Jr., and the Tampa Bay Rays might have won the World Series opener.
Mesa and Jonathan Aranda were caught stealing in consecutive innings, and the Milwaukee Brewers scored twice in a two-pitch span when hard-hit balls deflected off the gloves of center fielder Jonny DeLuca and shortstop Taylor Walls in the first.
Milwaukee came away with a 3-2 victory Friday night, winning on the margins and taking advantage of the types of mistakes the Rays usually pounce on to beat opponents.
“Definitely have to be smart. We talked about that coming in,” Tampa Bay outfielder Chandler Simpson said. “They just played the game better than us today.”
DeLuca missed his attempt at a diving catch on Christian Yelich’s one-out drive in the first inning with Jackson Chourio on first base. Yelich hit an 0-2 cutter to the right-center gap and DeLuca sprinted 85 feet and sprawled. The ball bounced off his glove in front of the warning track and rolled away for a go-ahead triple.
“You can’t be perfect in this game,” DeLuca said. “You’re going to fail a lot more than you’re going to succeed.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash didn't view it as a failure.
“Jonny covered a lot of ground right there to even make that play close," he said. “Highlight-reel play.”
With the infield in, William Contreras lined the next pitch at 108.4 mph. The ball glanced off the webbing of Walls' glove and into left field for an RBI single and a 2-0 lead.
“We gave ourselves plenty of opportunities, put ourselves in really good positions to score runs, to prevent runs,” Walls said. “We had some good plays where we did prevent some, and then we had some that we were inches away from maybe saving a couple more.”
With the Rays trailing 2-1 after Liam Hicks' RBI groundout in the fourth, Mesa was caught stealing third for the final out of the fifth with slugger Yandy Díaz at the plate.
“Victor is really competing, trying to do something to make something happen, put a little pressure on the defense,” Cash said, “and it didn’t work in our favor.”
One inning later, Aranda was thrown out trying to swipe second as Simpson struck out on a low slider for an inning-ending double play.
“That’s on me, ultimately. So much trust in Chandler putting the ball in play,” Cash said. “But he had a pretty nasty pitch.”
Contreras, the Brewers' catcher, had an excellent 1.49-second pop time in throwing out Mesa.
“Not surprised by anything that he did, but that’s not going to change our aggressive approach, certainly on the bases,” Cash said.
In the seventh, reliever Steven Matz issued a leadoff walk to Brewers rookie Cooper Pratt after getting ahead 1-2 in the count. Pratt eventually came around to score a critical insurance run.
Tampa Bay went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position while Milwaukee was 2 for 8. The Rays led the major leagues with a .283 RISP average during the season and the Brewers were second at .276.
“They play the same type of game we play, so we know it’s going to be close, like today was, and we're expecting that all throughout the Series,” Simpson said. “We've got to continue to play our game the best that we can and we should come out on top most of the time.”
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Milwaukee Brewers' David Hamilton is tagged out by Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero trying to advance on a double during the fifth inning of Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash pulls Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Garrett Cleavinger from the game during the eighth inning of Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda (8) is caught stealing by Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt during the sixth inning of Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Tampa Bay Rays' Victor Mesa Jr. is tagged out stealing by Milwaukee Brewers third baseman David Hamilton during the fifth inning of Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, in Milwaukee, between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
