DOJ gives California 48 hours to check voters or face lawsuit

The Trump administration is threatening emergency court action unless California officials investigate potential ineligible voters within 48 hours and set aside ballots from anyone whose citizenship they cannot verify, according to two letters sent to state officials from the Justice Department.

Why it matters: With voting already underway, President Trump's DOJ could delay ballots from eligible Californians mistakenly flagged as noncitizens and set up a court fight just three weeks before Election Day.

Driving the news: Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter sent a letter Tuesday to Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan along with a thumb drive of "likely noncitizens who were sent a vote-by-mail ballot," according to a copy of the letter shared with Axios.

McCotter asks local officials to investigate their citizenship status by noon October 15. The letter did not say how many people are on the list.

For anyone whose status can't be confirmed, DOJ asks the officials to "segregate—not cancel" those ballots and suspend signature verification or counting of any ballots already returned.

DOJ also asks officials to withhold ballots from people on the list unless their citizenship has been confirmed.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber received a similar letter.

Friction point: McCotter closed his letter with a threat: "If you cannot implement this process by then, given the ongoing federal election, the United States will have no choice but to seek emergency relief."

What they're saying: "This should not be controversial, as the criminal statute is clear: only American citizens may vote in federal elections. It is a federal crime for noncitizens to vote in U.S. elections, and the DOJ is asking California to ensure that is not occurring," a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement.

The California secretary of state's office and the Los Angeles County office did not respond to request for comment.

The other side: "One must question why the Justice Department would violate its own rules about investigating elections so close to Election Day, particularly when their past claims have been full of errors," said David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research, in a statement.

Becker added that the administration could have investigated California's voter rolls long before mail-in ballots began going out Oct. 5.

The big picture: The demand escalates the administration's push to uncover suspected noncitizen voters.

In July, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin alleged more than 190,000 voters were erroneously registered in California, a claim state officials disputed.

ICE investigators, FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors have dedicated significant resources to ramp up the number of cases and charges against illegal voting, with about 1,600 on-going cases as of mid-September.

Yes, but: The administration's sweeping claims of mass illegal registrations and noncitizen voting have quickly deflated after inspection.

After alleging 16,000 illegal registrations in Nevada, a review from state election officials saw that number dwindle to potentially 185, according to the New York Times.

In Pennsylvania, DHS officials conceded it had varying degrees of confidence in the flags it made on about 14,000 voters, according to Votebeat.

DHS also claimed that New Jersey had 35,000 noncitizen voters. Gov. Mike Sherril (D-NJ) did admit to mistake registrations from a software error, but the number was a fraction of DHS' claim: about 6,600.

Flashback: There have been software errors leading to registrations problems before, particularly for people using DMV services like getting a driver's license.

But election experts note actual voting by noncitizens remains rare.