U.S. Justice Department Joins Judicial Watch Lawsuit to Purge California Voter Rolls

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to intervene in Judicial Watch’s federal lawsuit against California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, alleging the state has failed to remove roughly 873,000 inactive voter registrations as required by the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act. The filing adds a deadline of Aug. 5 for California to begin a systematic voter‑removal process and sets a hearing for Aug. 10 to decide whether the DOJ can officially join the case.

Judicial Watch, a right‑wing legal group, claims its earlier actions have led to the removal of six million ineligible names nationwide and argues that California’s voter rolls are among the worst in the nation. The intervention follows 15 prior court defeats by the Trump administration in attempts to access state voter‑roll data. Supporters say the purge is needed to keep voter lists accurate, while voting‑rights advocates warn that aggressive clean‑ups risk disenfranchising eligible voters.