Butte County Rejects DOJ Bid to Segregate 45 Ballots Over Citizenship Claims

3 articles · Updated · KRCR · Oct 27

Butte County elections chief Keaton Denlay said he will not set aside ballots after the Justice Department sent a 48-hour demand tied to alleged noncitizen voters and warned of possible criminal charges.
A 47-name list delivered Oct. 23 shrank to 45 after one duplicate; 32 people were not on the county’s active rolls, seven lacked enough identifying information, and the remaining six were deemed eligible voters.
California Elections Code requires “extraordinary proof” to challenge a voter’s eligibility, and Denlay said the DOJ’s list was too inaccurate and incomplete to meet that standard.
The request appears to have gone to all 58 California counties, Denlay said, and he believes other counties reached similar conclusions.
Butte County said the dispute will not alter election procedures ahead of the Nov. 3 vote, with mail, drop-box and in-person voting continuing as normal.