The U.S. Department of Justice voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit seeking to force California election officials to set aside mail ballots tied to a list of about 20,000 people it believes are likely noncitizens, California Attorney General announced.
Bonta said the administration dropped the case after four consecutive court losses and before a scheduled evidentiary hearing on Nov. 13 that would have examined the reliability of its list.
He listed the court actions the attorney general said rejected the federal government's requests: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed an emergency appeal on Oct. 26; the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied a temporary restraining order on Oct. 28; the Ninth Circuit denied an emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal on Oct. 30; and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency application on Nov. 2.
Bonta said courts in other cases have raised questions about the reliability of similar lists, and he noted that a U.S. Department of Justice attorney in another case recently acknowledged the lists have a "high error rate."
Bonta called the dismissal a win for California and for election officials; he said California "stood firm and prevailed" and that the state will continue to "stand up for our democracy and the rule of law."
The attorney general's office issued the statement on Nov. 6, 2026.
State
Rob Bonta
Attorney General · Democrat
Named once in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
Sources & methodology
This report was written from the primary materials below. Links open at the original publisher.
California Attorney GeneralSee something we should correct? Read our corrections policy.