DOJ sues Orange County over non-citizen voting records

The federal government has hauled Orange County's voter registrar into court, saying the county has illegally refused to provide the Justice Department with accurate records showing how many non-citizens may have been removed from the county's voting rolls since 2020, in accordance with federal law.

On June 25, the Justice Department filed suit in federal court in Santa Ana, seeking a court order forcing Orange County Registrar Robert "Bob" Page to comply with the DOJ's request for voter registration records and declaring that California's state laws don't shield those records from federal oversight.

According to the lawsuit, the Justice Department reached out to Page's office on June 2, requesting records showing "the number of voter registration records in Orange County cancelled" because the registered voter later turned out to be a non-citizen or immigrant ineligible to vote, among other related records.

According to the lawsuit, the Justice Department said its inquiry was motivated by a complaint sent to the DOJ by "the family member of a non-citizen in Orange County" who claimed that non-citizen relative received a mail-in ballot from Orange County, despite not being a citizen and despite not having requested a ballot in the mail.

According to the federal complaint, Page's office responded to the request with redacted records that blacked out people's driver's license and ID card numbers; Social Security numbers; other ID numbers, assigned by state officials; ballot language preferences; and images of voters' signatures.

According to a copy of a letter purportedly sent by Page and Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer to the Justice Department accompanying those records, the county produced records for 17 people who "self-reported being non-citizens or whose ineligibility was confirmed by the Orange County District Attorney's office, and whose registrations were cancelled accordingly."

That correspondence was posted by Page on his profile on social media site, LinkedIn.

According to the complaint, Page's office claimed California law prohibited his office from providing that information, even to the federal government.

In response, the Justice Department told Page's office those state laws do not supersede federal election security laws requiring election authorities to maintain accurate records, including the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act, and to provide those records to federal authorities on request.

However, according to the complaint, Page and the Orange County Attorney's office has continued to refuse to turn over unredacted records, despite the Justice Department's threats to sue.

"Voting by non-citizens is a federal crime, and states and counties that refuse to disclose all requested voter information are in violation of well-established federal elections laws” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division under President Donald Trump.

“Removal of non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls is critical to ensuring that the state’s voter rolls are accurate and that elections in California are conducted without fraudulent voting."

Page has held the office of voter registrar in Orange County since 2022.

Recently, Page has found himself at the center of controversy in the county.

In the wake of controversial and razor thin elections in November 2024, which saw Democrats eke out wins for Orange County congressional seats over Republican incumbents, Republicans in the county and elsewhere asserted Democrats were aided by possible voter fraud amid California's notoriously weeks-long vote counting period.

Page was among who pushed back against such claims.

But in April, Page drew heavy criticism from many Orange County Republicans for appearing to take the side of Democrats in the debate over federal efforts to institute a national voter ID program, with the goal of increasing election security and preventing vote fraud.

In a release issued April 10, Page asserted such a law and national voter ID program - which would requite voters "to provide documentary proof of citizenship in person every time they register or update their voter registration" - would cost Orange County $6 million.

At the end of the release, Page included the sentence: "Will Congress appropriate the funds local and state elections officials need to implement" the national voter ID law?

Page further issued the release in conjunction with California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a Democrat who has opposed Republican efforts to stiffen immigration law enforcement and tighten election security.

Orange County Republicans asserted Page's statements were too partisan for his supposed non-partisan position helping to oversee elections in the large and influential county.

Amid the blowback, however, Page secured public support from Orange County Democrats, who asserted Page was merely doing his job by criticizing Republican voter security measures.

Democrats have for years pushed back on GOP claims of voter fraud in California and elsewhere, asserting Republicans cannot substantiate their claims.

According to a county online dashboard, Orange County has nearly 1.9 million registered voters, accounting for about 8% of California's registered voters. Only Los Angeles and San Diego counties have more registered voters, according to California state records.

According to Orange County online records, there are 687,000 registered Democrats in the county vs. 650,205 registered Republicans. That means the county will regularly stand at the center of some of the tightest races for seats in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., in California.

Page's office and Orange County have not yet responded to the Justice Department's lawsuit in court.

In a statement posted on his LinkedIn profile page, Page said he could not comment on the litigation.