Election workers sort ballots during early voting ahead of the midterm election at San Francisco County's election operations facility at City Hall in San Francisco, California, on October 21, 2026. - David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Justice Department on Friday ordered California election officials to identify suspected noncitizens on voter rolls and set aside their mail-in ballots — warning that officials who knowingly count ballots cast by noncitizens could face criminal liability.

The action marks an escalation in the Trump administ...