Court Denies DOJ Request to Set Aside California Mail Ballots Ahead of Midterms, Reaffirms Confidence in Los Angeles County's Election Safeguards

LOS ANGELES - A Count You Can Trust, the independent nonpartisan coalition working to strengthen confidence in Los Angeles County elections, welcomes last night’s decision by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter denying the Justice Department’s request to set aside approximately 20,000 vote-by-mail ballots. The request, issued after vote-by-mail ballots had been distributed to voters, concerned ballots from individuals the federal government identified as “likely noncitizens.” The coalition supports the decision as an important step in protecting eligible voters’ ballots while California continues its established work to safeguard the vote.

“Today’s decision means eligible Angelenos who have received their ballots should feel confident when they cast their vote. Los Angeles County verifies every mail-in ballot before it is counted, and that process has not changed,” said Antonio Villaraigosa, Co-Chair, A Count You Can Trust. “No one should have to wonder whether their ballot will count, and I encourage all eligible voters to vote any time between now and November 3, by mail, at an official ballot drop box, at a county vote center or on Election Day.”

Angelenos anticipated this moment. In countywide polling released by the coalition last week, 68 percent of likely Los Angeles County voters said they were worried about politicians interfering with the election process and 74 percent worry that false rumors and misleading information spreading online could confuse voters or convince them their ballots will not count. A federal challenge to ballots already in voters’ hands, days before Election Day, is exactly the kind of moment in which those worries can take hold.

California’s election system is secure and transparent, with rigorous security and verification measures designed to ensure that every eligible vote is counted. Those protections include robust voter registration safeguards, signature verification requirements and strict chain of custody procedures for securing and processing ballots. These legal safeguards help ensure elections are secure, transparent and verifiable, and give voters opportunities to see the process for themselves.

In Los Angeles County, every returned mail ballot is checked against the voter’s registration record before it is counted. A voter whose signature cannot be matched has until 5 p.m. on November 25 to correct it, and ballots postmarked by November 3 are counted if they arrive by November 10. Los Angeles County certifies its results by December 3, and the Secretary of State certifies the statewide result on December 11.

For information on how and where to vote, go to lavote.gov.

About A Count You Can Trust

A Count You Can Trust is an independent, nonpartisan coalition of Angelenos, launched as an initiative of the California Community Foundation, that shares fact-based information about how Los Angeles County elections work. The coalition does not support or oppose any candidate, political party, or ballot measure and is not affiliated with the official county elections office. Learn more at acountyoucantrust.org.