Justice Department charges more than 2 dozen in California sweep targeting alleged noncitizen voters

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Federal authorities charged more than two dozen foreign nationals Monday in California as part of a statewide sweep targeting individuals who office-holders say have illegally registered or voted in U.S.

What happened

Meanwhile, the arrests are part of a Trump administration effort to root out noncitizen voting ahead of next month's midterm elections, even though data demonstrates that the challenge is incredibly rare, tough to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races.

Federal authorities on Monday blamed California office-holders for the alleged crimes, accusing them of facilitating noncitizen voting through inadequate voter roll maintenance and hiding it from the public. The charges escalated a simmering voter roll fight that came into focus last week when the Justice Department sued California and cautioned that local election workers who knowingly process or tabulate ballots submitted by noncitizen voters are at risk of investigation and potential prosecution.

The bottom line

Taken together, the developments around justice Department charges more than 2 dozen in California sweep targeting alleged point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.