Justice Department sues Orange County, California, registrar of voters over noncitizen voting records

Kaitlyn Schallhorn, The Orange County Register on Jun 25, 2025

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LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page for allegedly not providing records related to noncitizens’ removal from voter registration lists.

The Justice Department alleged that Page refused to provide full, unredacted records related to the removal of noncitizens from the county’s voter registration lists and did not maintain an accurate voter list in violation of the Help America Vote Act, a 2002 law that made sweeping reforms to the country’s voting process. It said the records Page provided redacted certain personal information, including social security and state ID numbers.

The lawsuit alleged that Orange County has “undermined” voters’ confidence in the elections process by “refusing transparency of its voter information, in violation of federal voting laws, and concealing the unlawful registration of ineligible, noncitizen voters.”

“Keeping voter registration rolls accurate and current ensures efficient and secure elections and promotes democratic engagement,” the lawsuit said. “Accurate voter registration lists are necessary to ensure only eligible electors can cast a ballot.”

Page, when reached Wednesday morning, said the county does not comment on ongoing litigation.

The lawsuit said the Justice Department received a complaint from a family member of a noncitizen in Orange County who had allegedly received an unsolicited mail ballot from the county registrar, despite their citizenship status.

It said the attorney general requested on June 2 documents from January 2020 that show the number of voter registration records in Orange County that have been canceled because the registrant did not meet citizenship requirements and more information about each cancelation, including copies of the application, voting history and related correspondence sent or received by the county registrar related to the registration.

The lawsuit said Page responded to the request but redacted certain information regarding noncitizens identified on the county’s voter registration list, including their driver’s license or state ID numbers, social security numbers, language preferences, and signature images.

The lawsuit said the redacted data “prohibits the attorney general from making an accurate assessment” of the registrar’s compliance with election laws. It also said Page relied on state law for the basis of the redactions, which it said is preempted by federal law.

Page was given until June 20 to provide the unredacted information, the lawsuit said, but the registrar, through Assistant County Attorney James Steinmann, said he would not be turning over those records.

The lawsuit is led by Harmeet Dhillon, an assistant attorney general and former vice chair of the California Republican Party; Michael Gates, a deputy assistant attorney general and former city attorney of Huntington Beach; and Bill Essayli, a U.S. attorney and former Inland state legislator, among others.

“Voting by noncitizens 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,” Dhillon, who works in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

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