S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on this episode of KPBS Midday Edition media shutout. Why so many candidates running for office are declining interviews and dodging debates? This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. The Justice Department continues to put pressure on election officials in San Diego and across the state. On Friday , federal prosecutors demanded the San Diego Registrar of Voters hand over the private information of more than 1700 voters. The county has now responded to what they're calling a thinly veiled voter purge. Here with more is Jake Kincade , who's been covering this story for I. News source. Jake , welcome back to midday.
S2: Thank you for having me.
S1: Glad to have you here. So you reported on a letter that the Department of Justice sent to San Diego County Registrar of Voters Friday. What was in that letter?
S2: Uh , yeah. It contained a demand from the Justice Department that the county hand over private information like Social Security numbers , copies identification , and also set aside the ballots of as and not count them of 1709 San Diego voters until their citizenship can be verified.
S1: So how has the county responded to this letter?
S2: Well , they were given 48 hours to comply or not to comply , but to say , you know , whether or not they were going to comply. Uh , and , you know , this letter also threatened , uh , that they would be risking significant federal scrutiny and legal exposure if they didn't. And they responded by saying that they're not going to comply and that doing so would be illegal. Uh , they said the list is deeply flawed and that the county is not going to be bullied into participating in the DOJ's fishing expedition. Uh , and they also in the letter state that they did a spot check of about 10% of the names. So that's around 170. And , uh , they said that they suggest that it's unreliable. About 60% have canceled voter registrations and 74% had never voted in San Diego County. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , you write that this letter from the Justice Department warns of legal consequences for the county if they refuse to hand over this private information. Any idea on what those consequences could be or what they're talking about there?
S2: Well , it's hard to say , but they specify that , uh , you know , there's legal consequences for facilitating or ignoring federal crimes that are significant. And , you know , an alien voting in a federal election is a federal crime. And so they say that , say , you know , knowingly facilitating that uh is unlawful. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. You know , like this all goes back to this summer when the Department of Justice asked for voter roll information from several California counties , including San Diego. Remind us more about how this all got started in the first place.
S2: That's right. And , you know , and actually , some court records show that it actually goes back even further to a DHS operation that started in March of 2025 , but it didn't really start to California or become public , like you said , until over the summer. Um , you know , the Trump administration said , without providing any evidence , that there was 20,000 noncitizens on California's voter rolls. Uh , the state asked for evidence. Uh , and none was forthcoming for months. Uh , meanwhile , the first , the the first indication that there was an investigation from the DOJ going on directly into San Diego County's voting records was when we obtained subpoenas that had been sent , which are just , you know , a legal demand that can require someone or an entity to turn over information or appear to testify. Uh , for 25 voters. And that came from the Southern District Federal Prosecutor's office , uh , here in Seneca , California. So , uh , meanwhile , you know , finally in October. Uh , at on October 13th , actually , uh , the the secretary of state gets this list , uh , on a , on a thumb drive as the Los Angeles County registrar and with a 48 hour deadline to , you know , go through them and , uh , you know , commit to segregating ballots. Uh , you know , very similar to what was sent to the county. Uh , and at the same time , federal prosecutors are conducting this criminal investigation based on the records that they got from San Diego County registrar's office. You know , so the registrar said they complied with these subpoenas and turned over the records that they were legally required to turn over , and that led to them filing criminal charges against 28 people in California and four for voting related crimes here in San Diego County. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. I mean , the federal government filed a lawsuit against California over its voter rolls. What is is that suit arguing and where does it stand now?
S2: That's right. You know , when the California Secretary of state , you know , didn't comply with this demand in the 48 hour deadline , this lawsuit happened. And while this has been fighting , it's out in the courts. Uh , you know , the DOJ decided to go directly after , uh , county election officials across the state. Uh , the judge on that is expected to rule today. Um , but , you know , other news outlets have reported that when he was leaving the courtroom , he suggested it would be wise for them to cease , uh , threats against county election officials.
S1: Is there a decision expected to happen before the election? Here we are , less than a week away.
S2: Uh , yeah. That's right. It's supposed to. He's supposed to give a formal decision today. Uh , and last night , he , you know , had suggested the possibility of applying , uh , a , like , a special investigation from the court to look into , you know , the truth of this , this list of 20,000 suspected non-citizen voters. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. And these requests for voter , you know , information are not just happening in San Diego County , as you alluded to , but in counties across the state. So how have leaders responded to these federal efforts looking into states voter rolls? Are they all in lockstep here?
S2: Uh , yeah. That's right. It went out to every single county in California. And , uh , I think it , you know , remains to be seen how they're going to respond. Uh , you know , I just obtained this response from the county. Uh , last night. It went out , um , late on Tuesday , and I haven't actually seen any other responses yet.
S1: Um , well , we know voter fraud is rare. Uh , so has the Justice Department given you given any real indication for their focus on California? And what have you been able to surmise from your reporting as to why this is all happening and so close to an election?
S2: Uh , yeah. I mean , they have conducted other , you know , similar investigations in Nevada , uh , and a bunch of other states. Um , and actually in a , in a separate federal lawsuit , uh , you know , the one that showed that this went back to a , an operation starting in March of 2025 , the judge ordered DHS to cease , you know , field operations using the same , you know , flawed data matching that , uh , was used to generate the 20,000 names. And that was in nine other states. Uh , and the focus on why California? Um , you know , it's hard to say , but the California state government has been very defiant of the Trump administration and has fought a lot of legal battles against them. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well , I mean , Jake , this , of course , is all happening as voting is underway. Election day is just days away. How could this investigation and the lawsuits around it impact this year's midterm election? You think?
S2: Uh , yeah , that's the question everyone's asking it. You know , time and time again , you know , as this has developed , the registrar has said in San Diego that they are not doing anything differently and that , uh , you know , the election is proceeding as normal. And that's what this letter also says. Uh , and , you know , the state has had the same the same line. Uh , you know , even when the Trump administration tried to change Mail-In voting , the court shot it down. And the US Postal Service says that they're not going to do anything differently. So , you know , voting is going to proceed as normal. And the registrar says we're going to have , you know , more free and fair elections in San Diego County.
S1: I've been speaking with Jake Kincade , investigative reporter with eNews source. Jake , thanks so much for joining us today.
S2: Thanks for having me.
S1: And of course , we'll include a link to Jake's reporting on our on our show notes and website at KPBS. That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
