California ‘Basically’ Decriminalized Voter Fraud, Top Federal Prosecutor Warns

A top federal prosecutor says California has “basically” decriminalized voter fraud by stripping away election safeguards used by other states.

Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, told the Daily Signal that federal prosecutors are fighting for access to the state’s voter rolls in federal court and investigating election fraud allegations as Americans head into the midterm elections.

“California has basically what I will call decriminalized voter fraud, or a lot of things that people consider voter fraud,” Essayli said. “The states have a lot of leeway as to how they want to run elections, and so California has just taken off all the safeguards that most states have to reassure the public that only eligible U.S. citizens are registered to vote and casting ballots in an election.”

Essayli’s office has launched multiple ongoing investigations into alleged voter fraud in the state. While Essayli said his office cannot discuss pending investigations, he mentioned federal charges against a woman accused of paying homeless people on Skid Row to register to vote with false information.

He called that case “a little slice” of the voter fraud that federal prosecutors are examining.

California continues to insist its elections are secure while refusing to show the receipts, Essayli noted. He stressed that the only way to be certain of security would be to audit California’s voter rolls, which is why the Justice Department is requesting access to the voter rolls.

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California is resisting, arguing in part that turning over records would violate state privacy laws, he said. Essayli stated that the law requires states to show voter rolls to the attorney general, and said the argument made by California is “ludicrous” because federal law supersedes state law.

The state automatically sends mail ballots to all active registered voters, and allows ballots to arrive up to a week after Election Day, allowing vote counts to change for days on end. Most California voters are not required to show identification at the polls.

He stated that California’s automatic registration system is “basically registering everyone who interacts with the DMV as a voter,” and that officials “were caught about five or six years ago registering noncitizens who got driver’s licenses to vote, and they had to go and take them off the voter rolls. And those are just the ones they caught and admitted to.”

He also criticized California’s accepted forms of identification for first-time voters who register without a driver’s license or Social Security number, citing examples like gym memberships, prescription drug labels, and health insurance cards that do not prove citizenship.

When presented with a scenario of a voter using a gym membership purchased without any identification or citizenship documentation, Essayli said that is “how it could happen,” and said DOJ is looking into specific instances.

Essayli stressed that U.S. citizenship is already mandatory to vote in federal elections, but Congress did not put enough teeth into the enforcement mechanism. He stressed the need for a stronger framework requiring voter ID and actual proof of citizenship at the time of voting, saying it would be “the safest, most secure way to ensure compliance with the law.”

Regarding California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s claim on Monday that he and his wife were under federal investigation, Essayli told the Daily Signal in a written statement that he could not comment on pending investigations, and DOJ was unable to provide comment.