The U.S. Justice Department has asked the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters to help identify 902 registered voters it says are likely not citizens, and to send identifying information, including Social Security numbers, within 48 hours, NBC Bay Area reported.

The letter, from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, arrived Friday. It warned that mailing ballots to people on the list or counting their votes would be a federal crime. San Francisco, Los Angeles County and more than a dozen other counties got similar letters.

How officials responded

  • "I can't recall my 20-plus years in this county of receiving a letter like this from the Department of Justice," Registrar Matt Moreles told NBC Bay Area. He said the office is reviewing it with county leadership.
  • A spokesperson for San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu called it "clearly another ploy to interfere with the election 11 days before election day."
  • The DOJ did not respond to NBC Bay Area's request for comment.

Voting goes on

Santa Clara County opened 23 vote centers on Saturday, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Telemundo 48 reported. The county has more than 1 million registered voters and had already received more than 130,000 mail ballots. Another 87 centers open next weekend, bringing the total to 110.

The registrar told Telemundo that voters can trust the election and that the office is working to protect voters' privacy and keep voting free from intimidation.

Update, Oct. 27: county refuses

Santa Clara County Executive James Williams sent a letter to the U.S. attorney saying the federal government gave no legal basis to sequester the ballots, NBC Bay Area reported Oct. 26. "Unsupported allegations from a letter from the federal government does not constitute a basis to sequester votes or failed to count them without a subpoena or a warrant," Williams said. He added that the list appeared unreliable: "Just on the first page alone we found three duplicates." County Counsel Tony LoPresti also said he saw no legal basis for the demand. San Francisco, Contra Costa and San Mateo counties got similar letters and are working with the Secretary of State's office on a response, NBC reported.

See every race and measure in our Election 2026 guide.