California election official says federal agents threatened him for ‘voter fraud’ | California

A California county elections official is speaking out about the Justice Department’s campaign against so-called “voter fraud,” saying federal officials provided him with a disorganized list of names filled with inaccuracies — and threatened to criminally prosecute him if he didn’t act.

Keaton Denlay, clerk-recorder of Butte County, an area north of Sacramento, said Friday that a federal agent hand-delivered to him what appeared to be a printout of a “poorly formatted Excel spreadsheet with missing and confusing information.” The DoJ claimed the list included 47 “probable” noncitizens who had been illegally registered to vote and asked the county to void their ballots. But Denlay said the document was riddled with errors and missing crucial details, and he refused to act on it.

The Justice Department’s letter to Denlay, which the Guardian reviewed, said: “If individuals knowingly count ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as non-citizens, they risk becoming complicit in a federal crime.” »

“Taking all of this information as a whole, it becomes a little absurd, so I’m not losing any sleep,” Denlay said in an interview Wednesday, referring to the government’s threats. “I know that as long as I’m doing what I need to do to uphold the oath I took when I took office, I’m doing the right thing. I’m going to continue to do my job in a way that supports Butte County and our constituents.”

Denlay, in a lengthy statement, provided a first-hand account of the chaos and confusion caused by the DoJ’s escalating crusade against California election officials, suggesting that the federal government’s efforts to pursue suspected non-citizen voters were extraordinarily botched and misguided.

Justice Department officials spent the final weeks of the midterm elections aggressively targeting California, alleging that 20,000 of the state’s voters “are likely noncitizens” and filing lawsuits to stop those ballots from being counted. State officials strongly rejected the DoJ’s claims, saying prosecutors used unreliable data and risked disenfranchising U.S. citizens, and arguing that the federal government did not have the authority to interfere in California’s elections in this way.

The DoJ has stepped up its attacks in recent days, sending letters directly to county clerks in California demanding they throw out some ballots and saying local leaders have 48 hours to respond. And DoJ leaders have repeatedly made public statements threatening to accuse election officials of crimes, prompting a rebuke from a federal judge assigned to evaluate the DoJ lawsuit.

Denlay, clerk and registrar of voters for a county of 209,000, said that on Friday around 3:30 p.m., an individual identifying himself as a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agent filed documents at his office, including a “demand letter” from the Justice Department in which his name was misspelled “Danlay,” two declarations and a two-page list of names.

The DoJ letter said it provided Denlay with a list “containing 47 probable aliens” who had been illegally registered and demanded that his office provide federal prosecutors with more information about those individuals, such as Social Security numbers. “For individuals whose citizenship status you cannot independently confirm, we ask that you immediately request the appropriate election official to segregate – not void – the absentee ballots of these individuals until their citizenship status can be determined,” the letter said.

The letter gave a deadline of 48 hours.

But the underlying list does not match the summary of the DoJ letter, Denlay said. A two-page list was “two copies of the same list,” and although the DoJ said it had identified 47 names, the list contained only 46 names, including one repeated twice, according to Denlay. Of the 45 distinct names on the list, 32 of them were not people registered on active Butte County voter rolls and did not receive ballots, he said.

Seven of the names lacked sufficient information to be matched against its voter rolls – for example, having only a partial name, a partial address, no date of birth, no driver’s license number or no Social Security figures.

“This leaves six names out of the alleged 47 that the DoJ believes may not be eligible to vote,” Denlay wrote in his statement, which he posted on the county website. He pointed out that under California law, if someone challenges a voter’s eligibility, “the challenger will have the burden of establishing extraordinary proof of the validity of the challenge at the time the challenge is initiated.”

“Given the overall inaccuracy of the list provided and its lack of specificity, I believe the Department of Justice has not met this burden,” Denlay wrote.

The DoJ letter to Denlay was signed by Eric Grant, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, which includes Butte County. Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the office, declined to comment on Denlay’s statement. A DHS spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry.

Recounting Wednesday’s ordeal, Denlay said he experienced a “roller coaster of emotions” after receiving the letter: “I have someone who identifies as a federal agent handing me what they claim is evidence of voter fraud. So I have to take this seriously. We can’t just ignore this.” Allegations of serious election crimes must be supported by concrete evidence, he said, “but when I looked at the statement and the list, it didn’t appear to me that that was actually what I was handed…There was no actionable information for me.” »

The list itself was difficult to decipher, he said, noting that it appeared to be a printout of a poorly formatted spreadsheet where the columns were not wide enough and sometimes appeared to cut off information. “It causes problems when you try to check it against a database and the fields don’t match or there’s information missing,” he said.

Denlay said he never received a digital copy of the spreadsheet and had no further communication with the DoJ. He said he took it upon himself to personally review the files so his staff could stay focused on the election, he added.

Other California county officials said they received similar letters from the DoJ. Francisco Diaz, the registrar of voters for San Benito County in California’s Central Coast region, said his office received a list of 33 names and discovered that some were not currently registered to vote in the county: “We will not be intimidated by armed agents just to do our jobs, nor will we be rushed into compromising confidential voter data.” »

The Orange County Registrar of Voters said he did not initially receive the letter from federal prosecutors because officials delivered it to the county clerk-recorder, a position that handles marriage licenses and property deeds, not elections, CalMatters reported.

Legal experts said the DoJ was making empty threats intended to intimidate officials, and that California election leaders were following the law when they refused to comply with the DoJ’s demands.

Denlay said he wants voters to have confidence in the state’s election procedures: “If voters are on the active voter list, that means they have met all the criteria under California and federal law to be eligible voters. If anyone tries to take that away, even temporarily or whatever they want us to do here, California law is very clear: A challenger will have the burden of establishing extraordinary evidence…this list is not even close to that.”

Denlay added: “Election officials, whether it’s me or anyone else in the state, are doing everything we would normally do to ensure a successful election. »