U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli is slamming officials in the Golden State for blocking a federal audit of the state’s voter rolls.
Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, said his office is pushing for a closer look at California’s election system amid scrutiny surrounding late-arriving votes that have benefited Democratic candidates.
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The issue is getting more attention now that the recent Los Angeles mayoral primary is over.
Democrat Nithya Raman looked like she was going to lose on election night, and she was clearly upset when early results showed she was in third place.
But as more ballots were counted over the next few days, Raman jumped to second place and secured a spot in the runoff.
This caused critics to question the sudden change and renew their calls for California’s vote-counting process to be more open.
People who want to vote for the first time but don’t have a Social Security number or driver’s license can still register by using other forms of ID, such as gym membership cards, employer ID cards, credit or debit cards, and prescription drug labels.
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The state also lets people use insurance cards, which has gotten more attention because California gives illegal immigrants free health insurance.
Other policies that were brought up included failing to promptly remove deceased voters from the voter rolls and insufficiently limiting third-party ballot harvesting.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote on X:
California Is Blocking a Federal Audit of Its Voter Rolls. California allows first-time voters to register using forms of ID that most Americans would find surprising, including:
-Gym membership card
-Employer ID card
-Credit or debit card
-Prescription drug label
-Insurance card (California provides free health coverage to undocumented immigrants)
“This is permitted when a voter fails to provide a Social Security number or driver’s license at registration. Our office believes this policy deserves a closer look,” Essayli wrote.
“We also have serious concerns about how California maintains its 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 added.
Essayli also questioned if California is properly preserving its voter rolls by removing deceased individuals, those who have moved out of state, and those convicted of felonies that would disqualify them from voting.
“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. This makes it difficult to track who actually received, completed, and submitted each ballot,” Essayli continued.
For over a year, the federal government has been requesting access to California’s statewide voter registration database to assess the state’s compliance with federal election laws that aim to prevent voter fraud and maintain accurate records.
Essayli posted a letter to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in August 2025.
To assess compliance with maintenance requirements under the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act, federal officials requested access to the voter registration list in the letter.
The DOJ contended that the attorney general has the power to independently examine voter registration systems and obtain election records under federal law.
Additionally, copies of every voter registration application filed between December 1, 2023, and July 1, 2025, were requested by federal officials.
They contended that California’s refusal to provide the records is based on privacy restrictions that are superseded by federal election laws.
Essayli claims that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is currently hearing the case.
Voters must typically provide a California driver’s license number, a state identification number, or the final four digits of a Social Security number when registering, according to California law.
Election officials may assign a unique identification number to applicants who do not possess those forms of identification.
Additionally, a long list of acceptable documents is provided by state regulations for first-time federal election voters who are required by the Help America Vote Act to verify their identity.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
