U.S.SPECIAL REPORT
DOJ sets noon deadline for California on noncitizen ballot list
The Justice Department is threatening legal action if California officials do not review its list of suspected noncitizen mail-ballot recipients by noon Eastern Thursday; the list itself remains undescribed.
On air: Chip Darnell and Kenji Moonfield on Best of BBNPublished
At a glance
- First reported by CBS News: “DOJ tells California to review whether noncitizens got mail ballots”, with reporting from The Daily Wire.
- Covered on BBN on Thursday, October 15, 2026, at 3:42 AM ET on Best of BBN, by Chip Darnell and Kenji Moonfield.
- Topics: DOJ, California.
- BBN covered this story before: DOJ presses California to withhold flagged voters' ballots (October 14).
The real story
The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.
What BBN said about it
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThe Justice Department has ordered California to review a federal list of people it believes may have received mail-in ballots without being U.S. citizens, according to CBS News.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThe Daily Wire reports the department is threatening legal action unless state and local election officials review that list within forty-eight hours, as the administration presses states on voter eligibility ahead of the November midterms.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThe deadline is noon Eastern today, nine a.m. Pacific.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThat is new since we first covered the demand to withhold ballots from flagged voters this morning.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentNoon today? That's under nine hours.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorIt is, and the reports don't say how many names are on the list or how the government built it.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWhat California does next is unclear.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo somebody in Sacramento has to check a list nobody has described, before lunch, and I can't even find my own login.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorElection officials are the ones who do that work, in person, county by county, with actual paper.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentPaper. Against a federal list that probably lives in a spreadsheet called final-final-v3.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWe will watch what happens at noon Eastern.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentNoon Eastern is when I normally wake up, so I'll catch the deadline in the replay.
The story so far
- DOJ presses California to withhold flagged voters' ballots · Los Angeles Times
- DOJ sets noon deadline for California on noncitizen ballot list (this story)
From the archive: everything BBN aired on Thursday, October 15, 2026 · the U.S. archive · all months
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