2026年6月12日 美国东部时间上午8:51 / 福克斯新闻频道
加州助理美国检察官质疑该州为何不愿公开其记录：“他们在害怕什么？”
作者：亚历克·舍梅尔 福克斯新闻
加州“选举机制”正在破坏人们对投票系统的信任，共和党参议员称
参议员埃里克·施密特（R-密苏里州）和众议员詹姆斯·科默（R-肯塔基州）在《英格拉哈姆视角》节目中批评加州“可鄙的”选举制度。
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司法部正在升级与加州在选民名册准入问题上的冲突，指责州官员阻挠联邦审计——尽管金州（加州别称）官员警告，这一要求威胁选民隐私且越权。
这场争端的核心是选民名册维护和登记记录的准入问题，而非任何已公开的特定加州选举不当行为指控。
“如果加州真的希望选民信任其选举，就应该公开记录，而不是竭力隐瞒，”负责加州中部地区的美国助理检察官比尔·埃塞利在X平台上发表的长文中说道，文中附带了美国司法部负责联邦选举权执法的助理部长哈米特·迪隆去年致加州国务卿雪莉·韦伯的信件副本，信中要求检查加州的选民名册。
“他们在害怕什么？”埃塞利质疑道。
【50多万加州人要求改革选举制度，支持“直截了当”的身份验证法】
加州的规定允许某些首次投票的选民在登记时不提供社会安全号码或驾照，而是通过健身房会员卡、雇主身份证、信用卡或借记卡、处方标签和保险卡等文件验证身份——加州中部地区美国助理检察官比尔·埃塞利表示，这项政策值得审查。（克里斯蒂娜·豪斯 / 洛杉矶时报 盖蒂图片社供稿；艾米丽·埃尔科宁/路透社）
迪隆的信件发出前，韦伯的办公室于8月8日回复，对联邦政府索要的州选民登记数据可能涉及的隐私保护问题表示担忧。加州州长加文·纽瑟姆办公室的发言人告诉福克斯新闻数字频道：“每个审理过该问题的联邦法院都裁定，美国司法部的要求违反联邦法律。”他补充道：“与本届联邦政府不同，我们不会做违法的事。”
韦伯的办公室提出，允许司法部在萨克拉门托预约检查经过编辑的选民登记数据库，辩称这已满足其法律义务，但迪隆拒绝了这一提议，并要求获取全州选民名单“包含所有字段”的电子副本，根据第九巡回上诉法院正在审理的争端中的法律文件显示。
“我们还对加州如何维护其选民名册存在严重担忧，”埃塞利在他的X平台帖子中写道，指责加州民主党人阻挠对其选民名册进行联邦审计。“存在一些悬而未决的问题，即该州是否及时移除了已故选民、已搬迁的选民以及被取消资格的重刑犯。”
埃塞利还强调了加州的规则如何允许某些首次投票的选民在登记时不提供社会安全号码或驾照，而是通过健身房会员卡、雇主身份证、信用卡或借记卡、处方标签和保险卡等文件验证身份——他的办公室表示，这项政策值得审查。
【共和党全国委员会主席承诺保障选举安全，民主党执政州的选民名册上被曝存在非公民】
“除此之外，加州允许第三方代表选民收集并提交选票（这种做法被称为选票收割），且几乎没有限制，”埃塞利补充道。“这使得追踪谁实际收到、填写并提交了每张选票变得困难。”
【美国助理检察长哈米特·K·迪隆，领导司法部联邦选举权执法办公室（安德鲁·哈尼克/盖蒂图片社）】
加州总检察长办公室驳斥了埃塞利的说法，指出司法部已在地区法院层面输掉了此案，而第九巡回法院的待审上诉源于联邦政府对该驳回裁决的上诉。
一名美国地区法官在1月份驳回了司法部的诉讼，主审法官写道，司法部正从加州未经过编辑的选民名册中索要“前所未有的大量个人信息”，包括近2300万加州人的姓名、社会安全号码、家庭住址、投票历史和其他敏感信息。该法官还写道，司法部不能以“完全无视宪法规定的三权分立”的方式使用联邦选举法。
【联邦法官驳回特朗普政府要求获取密歇根州选民名册的诉讼】
总检察长罗布·邦塔办公室的发言人在给福克斯新闻数字频道的一份声明中强调，司法部已在全国范围内提起了约30起选民名册诉讼，而已审结的8起选民名册案件全部败诉。
【加州总检察长罗布·邦塔（右）在2025年4月16日于加州塞雷斯的詹佩勒果园举行的新闻发布会上发言，加州州长加文·纽瑟姆在旁观看。（贾斯汀·沙利文/盖蒂图片社）】
联邦政府争取获取加州选民名册的斗争之际，选民名册维护一直是全国范围内唐纳德·特朗普总统和共和党人关注的问题。
“如果欺诈者操作得当，可能会有更多这样的违规选票，”伊利诺伊州共和党主席鲍勃·格罗根两周前告诉福克斯新闻数字频道，此前该州一名民主党市官员自首，据称她用已故母亲的名字投票。格罗根对邮寄投票表示特别担忧，尽管他也承认在某些情况下邮寄投票是必要的。
【特朗普任命的联邦法官驳回司法部要求获取亚利桑那州选民数据的诉讼】
“邮寄选票尤其容易受到攻击，这就是为什么应该对其进行安全保障，绝不能在选民未明确提出请求的情况下邮寄，并且在计票前必须始终进行验证。这起案件也表明维护干净的选民名册是多么重要，”负责诚实选举项目的杰森·斯尼德在谈到伊利诺伊州的案件时告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。“如果名单维护流程更慢一些，这张非法选票可能会在欺诈被发现前就被计入了。不幸的是，太多州——尤其是蓝州——积极抵制常识性的保障措施，这不禁让人想问：还有多少其他非法选票从系统中溜走了？”
【2020年11月4日，宾夕法尼亚州切斯特县的选举工作人员在西切斯特大学处理邮寄选票和缺席选票。（美联社照片/马特·斯洛科姆）】
已死亡的登记选民也引发了全国范围内对选民名册维护的更广泛审查。
北卡罗来纳州选举官员4月份表示，通过与联邦数据库比对，他们发现约3.4万名仍被列入州选民名册的已故人士，而近期其他当地争议包括被指控或调查发现已故选民出现在登记名单或缺席选票记录中。
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共和党人辩称，此类案件表明各州为何应该更透明地公布其维护选民名单的方式。共和党全国委员会主席乔·格鲁特斯告诉福克斯新闻数字频道，新泽西州的记录“令人大开眼界”，并表示该党已向几乎每个州索要选民名册维护信息。
司法部此前已在加州境内发起了类似的档案争夺战，去年起诉奥兰治县的选举官员，指控其拒绝提供记录以帮助从选民登记名单中移除非公民。当时，迪隆表示，从加州选民名册中移除非公民对于确保该州名册准确以及选举在没有欺诈性投票的情况下进行“至关重要”。
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6397584914112
California accused of blocking federal voter roll audit as DOJ escalates probe of election fraud claims
June 12, 2026 8:51am EDT / Fox News
Assistant US attorney in California questions why the state won’t open its records: ‘What are they afraid of?’
By Alec Schemmel, Fox News
California’s ‘election regime’ is destroying trust in the voting system, says GOP senator
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., criticize California’s ‘despicable’ election system on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’
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The Justice Department is escalating its clash with California over voter-roll access, accusing state officials of blocking a federal audit — though Golden State officials warn the demand threatens voter privacy and oversteps federal authority.
The dispute centers on voter roll maintenance and access to registration records, not any publicly identified allegation of impropriety in a specific California race.
“If California genuinely wants voters to trust its elections, it should open its records, not fight to keep them closed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said in a lengthy post on X that included a copy of a letter U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the DOJ office enforcing federal voting-rights laws, sent to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber last year demanding the state’s voter rolls for inspection.
“What are they afraid of?,” Essayli questioned.
MORE THAN 500,000 CALIFORNIANS DEMAND VOTING OVERHAUL, BACK ‘STRAIGHTFORWARD’ ID LAW
California’s rules allow certain first-time voters who do not provide a Social Security number or driver’s license when registering to verify their identity with documents including gym membership cards, employer IDs, credit or debit cards, prescription labels and insurance cards — a policy Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli says warrants scrutiny.(Christina House / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images; Emily Elconin/REUTERS)
Dhillon’s letter followed an Aug. 8 response from Weber’s office raising concerns about privacy protections that could be implicated by the state voter-registration data sought by the federal government. A spokesperson from California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital that “every federal court to consider the issue has ruled U.S. DOJ’s demands violate federal law,” adding that “unlike this federal administration, we don’t do things that are illegal.”
Weber’s office offered to let DOJ inspect a redacted voter-registration database by appointment in Sacramento, arguing that satisfied their legal obligations, but Dhillon rejected that proposal and demanded an electronic copy of the statewide voter list “with all fields,” according to legal filings from the ongoing dispute taking place in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“We also have serious concerns about how California maintains its voter rolls,” Essayli wrote in his X post, calling out California Democrats for blocking the federal audit of their voter rolls. “There are open questions about whether the state is promptly removing deceased voters, people who have moved, and individuals convicted of disqualifying felonies.”
Essayli also highlighted how California’s rules allow certain first-time voters who do not provide a Social Security number or driver’s license when registering to verify their identity with documents including gym membership cards, employer IDs, credit or debit cards, prescription labels and insurance cards — a policy his office says warrants scrutiny.
NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLLS IN DEMOCRAT-RUN STATE EXPOSED AS RNC CHAIR PLEDGES SECURE ELECTIONS
“On top of that, California allows third parties to collect and turn in ballots on voters’ behalf (a practice known as ballot harvesting) with few restrictions,” Essayli added. “This makes it difficult to track who actually received, completed, and submitted each ballot.”
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the DOJ office that enforces federal voting-rights laws(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The California Attorney General’s office pushed back on Essayli’s framing, noting that DOJ had already lost the case at the district court level and that the pending Ninth Circuit fight stems from the federal government’s appeal of that dismissal.
A U.S. District Judge dismissed the DOJ’s lawsuit in January, with the presiding judge writing that the department was seeking “an unprecedented amount of personal information” from California’s unredacted voter rolls, including names, Social Security numbers, home addresses, voting history and other sensitive information from nearly 23 million Californians. The judge also wrote that DOJ could not use federal election laws in a way that “wholly disregards the separation of powers provided for in the Constitution.”
FEDERAL JUDGE REJECTS TRUMP ADMIN LAWSUIT SEEKING MICHIGAN VOTER ROLLS
A spokesperson for Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office highlighted in a statement to Fox News Digital that the DOJ has brought approximately 30 voter roll lawsuits nationwide and has lost all eight voter roll cases that have been decided to date.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta (R) speaks as California Governor Gavin Newsom looks on during a news conference at Gemperle Orchard on April 16, 2025, in Ceres, California.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The fight for federal access to California’s voter rolls comes as voter roll maintenance has been a concern of President Donald Trump and Republicans nationally.
“If fraudsters do it right, it can be many, many more votes like this,” Illinois GOP Chairman Bob Grogan told Fox News Digital two weeks ago after a Democratic city official in his state turned herself in for allegedly using her dead mother’s name to vote. Grogan expressed particular concern with mail-in balloting, even though he did recognize its necessity in some cases.
TRUMP-APPOINTED FEDERAL JUDGE TOSSES DOJ LAWSUIT SEEKING ARIZONA VOTER DATA
“Mail ballots are especially vulnerable, which is why they should be secured, should never be mailed without a specific request from the voter, and should always be verified before they are tabulated. This case also shows how essential it is to maintain clean voter rolls,” Jason Snead, who runs the Honest Elections Project, told Fox News Digital about the Illinois case. “Had the list maintenance process been slower, it is possible this illegal vote would have been counted before the fraud was discovered. Unfortunately, too many states — particularly blue states — actively resist commonsense safeguards, which begs the question: how many other illegal votes have slipped through the system?”
Chester County, Pennsylvania, election workers process mail-in and absentee ballots at West Chester University in West Chester on Nov. 4, 2020.(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Dead registrants have also fueled broader scrutiny of voter roll maintenance nationally.
North Carolina election officials said in April they identified roughly 34,000 deceased people still listed on the state’s voter rolls after a federal database comparison, while other recent local controversies have included allegations or investigations involving deceased voters appearing on registration lists or absentee-ballot records.
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Republicans have argued cases such as these show why states should be more transparent about how they maintain voter lists. RNC Chairman Joe Gruters told Fox News Digital that the New Jersey records were “eye-opening” and said the party has sought voter roll maintenance information from nearly every state.
DOJ has already pursued a similar records fight inside California, suing Orange County’s registrar last year for allegedly refusing to provide records to help remove noncitizens from its voter-registration list. At the time, Dhillon said removing noncitizens from California’s voter rolls was “critical” to ensuring the state’s rolls are accurate and that elections are conducted without fraudulent voting.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6397584914112