DOJ charges 28 in California with voting crimes as election tensions escalate

Heard on All Things Considered The Justice Department announced on Monday it was charging 28 noncitizens with election crimes in California, signaling a further escalation over the state's voting system that looks like it will continue through Election Day and beyond.

司法部周一宣布，对加州 28 名非公民提出选举犯罪指控，这表明该州投票系统的局势进一步升级，而且这种情况似乎将持续到选举日及之后。

The DOJ also filed an emergency request in federal court to stop California from processing ballots returned by people on the voter rolls whom the federal government says are "likely noncitizens." The state has asked for specific information on how the federal government came to its conclusions, but has not received it.

司法部还向联邦法院提出紧急请求，阻止加州处理选民名册上被联邦政府称为“可能是非公民”的人返回的选票。该州已要求提供有关联邦政府如何得出结论的具体信息，但尚未收到。

"This Department of Justice will not look the other way while noncitizens vote in federal elections," Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said at a press conference on Monday announcing the election crime charges.

代理副总检察长特伦特·麦科特在周一宣布选举犯罪指控的新闻发布会上表示：“当非公民在联邦选举中投票时，司法部不会视而不见。”

"Unfortunately the same can't be said for California and L.A.

“不幸的是，加州和洛杉矶的情况却并非如此。

County."

县。”

Noncitizen voting has never been found to be a widespread problem in American elections, but the Trump administration is devoting significant resources to uncovering the ineligible voting that does occur.

非公民投票从未被发现是美国选举中的一个普遍问题，但特朗普政府正在投入大量资源来揭露确实发生的不合格投票。

The DOJ has been announcing handfuls of new charges almost every day as early voting gets underway in many states.

随着许多州开始提前投票，司法部几乎每天都会宣布多项新指控。

The Justice Department's latest request in federal court is a continuation of a saga that began this summer with President Trump's primetime speech on election integrity .

司法部向联邦法院提出的最新要求是今年夏天特朗普总统关于选举公正性的黄金时段演讲开始的传奇故事的延续。

It took a major turn last week with the delivery of a flash drive to Los Angeles County that contained 20,000 names and a 48-hour deadline to investigate them.

上周，情况发生了重大转变，向洛杉矶县交付了一个闪存驱动器，其中包含 20,000 个姓名，并在 48 小时内完成调查。

Local and state officials declined to do so, and the federal government sued.

地方和州官员拒绝这样做，联邦政府提起诉讼。

McCotter escalated the dispute further on Friday by warning California officials in a letter that they could be criminally prosecuted for knowingly processing ballots "cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens." President Trump wrote on Truth Social that evening: "They will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!"

麦科特周五在一封信中警告加州官员，他们可能会因故意处理“被联邦机构认定为非公民的个人”的选票而受到刑事起诉，进一步加剧了争端。特朗普总统当晚在《Truth Social》上写道：“他们都会被关进监狱很长一段时间！！！”

Taken together, the threats have local officials and election experts worried that the adversarial posture of the Justice Department towards California portends more actions to come aimed at delegitimizing results in this fall's midterms.

总的来说，这些威胁让当地官员和选举专家担心，司法部对加州的敌对姿态预示着将采取更多行动，旨在使今年秋季中期选举的结果合法化。

"There's a few things to be worried about," said Rick Hasen, an election law expert who runs UCLA's Safeguarding Democracy Project.

“有一些事情需要担心，”负责加州大学洛杉矶分校维护民主项目的选举法专家里克·哈森说。

"One is the risk of disenfranchising eligible voters.

“其中之一是剥夺合格选民选举权的风险。

The other is the risk that it further undermines voter confidence in the electoral process by making it seem like [noncitizen voting] is a major problem when it is not.

另一个风险是，它会让[非公民投票]看起来像是一个主要问题，而实际上并非如此，从而进一步削弱选民对选举过程的信心。

And the third risk is that this is going to be used as some sort of pretext to try to seize ballots or interfere after the election is over."

第三个风险是，这将被用作某种借口，试图在选举结束后夺取选票或进行干预。”

Dana Lewis, the Republican county recorder for Pinal County, Ariz., said local officials nationwide are watching and communicating about what's happening in California, the same way they did when the FBI raided an elections office in Fulton County, Ga.

亚利桑那州皮纳尔县的共和党县记录员达纳·刘易斯 (Dana Lewis) 表示，全国各地的地方官员都在关注并交流加州正在发生的事情，就像联邦调查局突击搜查佐治亚州富尔顿县的一个选举办公室时一样。

in January.

一月。

If those officials are administering a race this fall that is close or contested, they feel they could be next, she said.

她说，如果这些官员今年秋天管理一场势均力敌或竞争激烈的比赛，他们觉得自己可能会成为下一个。

"When this impacts another jurisdiction, you automatically have to feel that," Lewis said.

“当这影响到另一个司法管辖区时，你自然会感受到这一点，”刘易斯说。

"If it's happening in Georgia, if it's happening in Colorado or California, we're all watching."

“如果它发生在佐治亚州，如果它发生在科罗拉多州或加利福尼亚州，我们都在关注。”

New criminal charges against noncitizens in California

加州针对非公民的新刑事指控

All 28 people charged in California on Monday are green-card holders, and all appeared on the list of 20,000 names the DOJ gave California officials last week, according to DOJ officials.

据司法部官员称，周一在加州受到指控的所有 28 人都是绿卡持有者，并且都出现在司法部上周向加州官员提供的 20,000 名名单上。

A number of them do not appear to have actually voted, and some registered to vote more than 20 years ago.

其中一些人似乎并没有真正投票，有些人在 20 多年前就登记投票了。

Many are accused of making false statements in their naturalization applications, which ask whether applicants previously registered to vote or claimed U.S. citizenship.

许多人被指控在入籍申请中做出虚假陈述，询问申请人之前是否登记投票或声称拥有美国公民身份。

Previous research has shown that when noncitizen voting and registration occurs, it is also often the result of bureaucratic error and not intentional fraud.

先前的研究表明，当非公民投票和登记发生时，也往往是官僚错误的结果，而不是故意欺诈的结果。

New Jersey revealed this summer that a software glitch at the DMV registered more than 6,000 people to vote even though they had indicated they were noncitizens.

新泽西州今年夏天透露，DMV 的一个软件故障导致 6,000 多人登记投票，尽管他们表明自己是非公民。

Bill Essayli, the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for California's Central District, downplayed that possibility on Monday, however.

然而，加州中区第一助理美国检察官比尔·埃萨利 (Bill Essayli) 周一淡化了这种可能性。

"It's not something that just happens to you," Essayli said.

“这不是只发生在你身上的事情，”埃萨利说。

"They either attested to it when they got a driver's license, or they went out of their way to file a voter registration form, and they swore under oath that they were a citizen."

“他们要么在获得驾驶执照时证明了这一点，要么特意提交了选民登记表，并宣誓自己是公民。”

In the past seven weeks, the Justice Department has charged 113 noncitizens across 20 states with voting and registration crimes, officials said at Monday's press conference.

官员们在周一的新闻发布会上表示，过去七周内，司法部已对 20 个州的 113 名非公民提出投票和登记犯罪指控。

UCLA's Hasen said the charges seem to be meant to make noncitizen voting "look like a bigger issue than it is."

加州大学洛杉矶分校的哈森表示，这些指控似乎是为了让非公民投票“看起来比实际情况更严重”。

"Given that there's over 20 million registered voters in California, this is quite a small number of allegations," Hasen said.

哈森说：“鉴于加州有超过 2000 万登记选民，这只是一个很小的指控。”

"And we don't know how many of these allegations will even pan out.

“我们不知道这些指控中有多少会得到证实。

And so even if all of these were in fact people who were illegally voting, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the number of voters in California."

因此，即使所有这些人实际上都是非法投票的人，与加州的选民人数相比，这也是九牛一毛。”

Recent polling suggests a sizable portion of the American public thinks immigration enforcement will be present at voting locations this fall, despite federal law banning armed federal agents from the polls.

最近的民意调查显示，相当一部分美国公众认为，尽管联邦法律禁止武装联邦特工参加投票，但今年秋天投票地点仍将有移民执法部门。

Non-white voters are more likely than white voters to say they fear voting could put them at risk of being questioned by immigration authorities despite being citizens.

非白人选民比白人选民更有可能表示，他们担心投票可能会让他们面临被移民当局盘问的风险，尽管他们是公民。

In an interview earlier this fall with NPR, Los Angeles County's top voting official, Dean Logan, alluded to those worries.

在今年秋天早些时候接受 NPR 采访时，洛杉矶县最高投票官员迪恩·洛根 (Dean Logan) 提到了这些担忧。

"Given everything leading up to this election, what we're trying to remind voters is the best way to secure the election is through your participation," Logan told NPR.

洛根告诉美国公共广播电台：“考虑到这次选举的一切，我们试图提醒选民，确保选举的最佳方式是通过你们的参与。”

"Don't be distracted by the litigation.

“不要因诉讼而分心。

Don't be distracted by the mis- and disinformation.

不要被错误和虚假信息分散注意力。

If you have questions, let us know, let us answer them.

如果您有疑问，请告诉我们，让我们回答。

But don't let this keep you from voting," he said.

但不要让这阻止你投票，”他说。

"Because if you're not voting, none of the rest matters, right?"

“因为如果你不投票，剩下的一切都不重要，对吧？”

The Justice Department's request that a federal judge block California and Los Angeles County from processing ballots from the list of 20,000 "likely noncitizens" it gave state officials last week is unprecedented and an especially unusual request given that voting is already underway.

司法部要求一名联邦法官阻止加州和洛杉矶县处理上周向州官员提供的 20,000 名“可能非公民”名单中的选票，这是史无前例的，而且考虑到投票已经在进行中，这是一个特别不寻常的要求。

California officials have argued that complying with the Department's demand to set the ballots aside would be unlawful and noted the DOJ has not confirmed that the voters on the list are noncitizens.

加州官员辩称，遵守司法部搁置选票的要求是非法的，并指出司法部尚未确认名单上的选民是非公民。

"The extraordinary measures you demand are contrary to both federal and state law," California Secretary of State Shirley Weber wrote to the DOJ's McCotter on Oct.

“你们要求的非常规措施违反了联邦和州法律，”加州国务卿雪莉·韦伯 (Shirley Weber) 于 10 月 17 日写信给司法部的麦科特。

13.

13.

"Withholding ballots from some duly registered voters and segregating and refusing to tabulate voted ballots submitted by others, is an unprecedented suspension — and even denial — of voting rights," she wrote.

她写道：“扣留一些正式登记选民的选票，隔离并拒绝将其他选民提交的选票制成表格，这是前所未有的暂停甚至剥夺投票权。”

Los Angeles County's assistant county counsel, Peter Bollinger, wrote to McCotter on Oct.

洛杉矶县助理县法律顾问彼得·博林格 (Peter Bollinger) 于 10 月 11 日写信给麦科特。

15: "we are not authorized to, or are prohibited from, taking the actions requested in your letter under both federal and state law.

15：“根据联邦和州法律，我们无权或被禁止采取您信中要求的行动。

The actions described would disenfranchise those in question without due process." The same letter noted the list of names from the DOJ included voters from outside Los Angeles County, whom the office does not maintain any records on.

上述行动将在未经正当程序的情况下剥夺相关人员的权利。”同一封信指出，司法部的名单中包括来自洛杉矶县以外的选民，该办公室没有保留这些人的任何记录。

Both letters cited the National Voter Registration Act, a federal law that bars states from systematically removing ineligible voters from state voter rolls during the 90 days before an election.

这两封信都引用了《国家选民登记法》，这是一项联邦法律，禁止各州在选举前 90 天内系统地从州选民名册中删除不符合资格的选民。

The law is supposed to prevent mistakes that could erroneously purge eligible voters right before an election without giving voters time to correct errors.

该法律旨在防止可能在选举前错误地清除合格选民的错误，而不给选民时间纠正错误。

There are also questions about the methodology the Trump administration used to come up with its tally of 20,000 likely noncitizens and its accuracy.

人们还对特朗普政府统计 20,000 名可能非公民的方法及其准确性提出质疑。

A July letter to California from the Department of Homeland Security alleged the state had a potential of 190,000 noncitizens on its rolls.

国土安全部 7 月份致加州的一封信称，该州可能有 19 万非公民。

In Monday's press briefing, McCotter said the 20,000 figure represented the people the Justice Department had the most confidence were noncitizens after DHS cross-referenced various government databases and other records with identifying information.

在周一的新闻发布会上，麦科特表示，在国土安全部交叉引用各种政府数据库和其他带有识别信息的记录后，20,000 人的数字代表了司法部最有信心的非公民。

McCotter and other DOJ officials blamed California for not handing over its entire voter roll — including partial Social Security Numbers and driver's license numbers — which they said could help shed more light on the citizenship status of these voters.

麦科特和其他司法部官员指责加州没有交出全部选民名册，包括部分社会保障号码和驾驶执照号码，他们表示这有助于更多地了解这些选民的公民身份。

So far 26 federal judges have dismissed DOJ demands for that data across the country.

到目前为止，已有 26 名联邦法官驳回了司法部在全国范围内提供这些数据的要求。

In the Justice Department's Monday filing for a restraining order preventing California from counting ballots from the 20,000 individuals, the DOJ wrote: "Once illegally cast ballots are counted and commingled with lawful votes, the resulting harm may be impossible to remedy.

在司法部周一提交的禁止加州清点 20,000 人选票的限制令中，司法部写道：“一旦非法投票的选票被清点并与合法选票混合在一起，所造成的伤害可能无法补救。

The urgency is heightened because of the fundamental right to vote and to have one's lawful vote counted without dilution."

由于投票权和合法选票不被稀释的基本权利，这种紧迫性更加突出。”

A half dozen voting and civil rights organizations filed to intervene in the case last week to argue the DOJ's demands are unlawful.

上周，六个投票和民权组织申请介入此案，辩称司法部的要求非法。

Election experts have said the DOJ's lawsuit against California seems more about sending a political message or teeing up future challenges than winning this case in court, given that the constitution gives states the authority to administer elections.

选举专家表示，鉴于宪法赋予各州管理选举的权力，司法部对加州的诉讼似乎更多是为了传递政治信息或为未来的挑战做准备，而不是在法庭上赢得这场官司。

"I expect this lawsuit to go nowhere," UCLA's Hasen wrote last week .

“我预计这场诉讼不会有结果，”加州大学洛杉矶分校的哈森上周写道。

SCOTT DETROW, HOST: Election Day is just two weeks away.

主持人斯科特·德特罗：距离选举日只有两周了。

And the Department of Justice announced that they have charged 28 green-card holders in California for registering to vote or vote illegally without being U.S. citizens.

美国司法部宣布，他们对加州 28 名绿卡持有者提出指控，指控他们非美国公民登记投票或非法投票。

This is the latest twist in the Trump administration's escalating feud with California election officials over the state's voter rolls.

这是特朗普政府与加州选举官员围绕该州选民名单不断升级的争执的最新转折。

Joining us now to talk about this is NPR's Jude Joffe-Block.

NPR 的裘德·约菲-布洛克 (Jude Joffe-Block) 现在加入我们谈论这个话题。

Hey there.

嘿。

JUDE JOFFE-BLOCK, BYLINE: Hey.

裘德·乔菲-布洛克连线：嘿。

DETROW: Before we get into this latest twist, catch us up how we got here.

DETROW：在我们讨论这个最新的转折之前，请先了解一下我们是如何走到这一步的。

JOFFE-BLOCK: Yeah, so last week, the DOJ sent California and LA County officials a list of 20,000 registered voters the DOJ said were likely noncitizens.

JOFFE-BLOCK：是的，上周，司法部向加州和洛杉矶县官员发送了一份 20,000 名登记选民的名单，司法部称这些选民可能是非公民。

The DOJ demanded election officials set their ballots aside until their citizenship could be confirmed, which is really an unprecedented demand.

美国司法部要求选举官员搁置他们的选票，直到他们的公民身份得到确认，这确实是一个前所未有的要求。

Voting is already underway.

投票已经开始。

Mailed ballots are already sent out.

邮寄选票已经寄出。

Election officials here refused.

这里的选举官员拒绝了。

The secretary of state cited concerns it would violate federal and state laws and a recent court order, as well as disenfranchising eligible voters.

国务卿担心这将违反联邦和州法律以及最近的法院命令，并剥夺合格选民的选举权。

DOJ then sued California.

美国司法部随后起诉加州。

Today it filed an emergency motion asking a judge to stop the state from processing those ballots.

今天，它提出了一项紧急动议，要求法官阻止该州处理这些选票。

And now the DOJ is announcing they've criminally charged 28 people who were on that list of 20,000 likely noncitizens with crimes associated with being illegally registered to vote or voting.

现在，司法部宣布，他们对 20,000 名可能非公民名单上的 28 人提出刑事指控，指控他们犯有与非法登记投票或投票相关的罪行。

DETROW: OK, this list of 20,000 and then today 28 individuals who were charged, what do we know about these 28 people?

德特罗：好的，这份 20,000 人名单以及今天 28 人被指控的名单，我们对这 28 人了解多少？

JOFFE-BLOCK: All of them are allegedly legal permanent residents who registered to vote, according to DOJ officials.

乔夫-布洛克：据司法部官员称，他们据称都是登记投票的合法永久居民。

Some are charged with voting illegally, some even in multiple elections.

有些人被指控非法投票，有些人甚至在多次选举中投票。

A handful are accused of being illegally registered, and there's apparently - there isn't evidence they cast a ballot, apparently, which raises the question of whether all those people even knew they were registered.

少数人被指控非法登记，而且显然没有证据表明他们投票了，这引发了一个问题：所有这些人是否都知道他们已经登记了。

You know, we've seen cases in a number of states where noncitizens get registered by accident at the DMV.

您知道，我们在许多州都见过非公民意外在DMV 登记的案例。

DETROW: Right, it's kind of a passive process that happens.

DETROW：是的，这是一个被动的过程。

JOFFE-BLOCK: Yeah.

乔夫·布洛克：是的。

And - you know, and also voting experts point out 28 is a tiny number when you keep in mind that California has more than 23 million registered voters.

而且，投票专家还指出，考虑到加州拥有超过 2300 万登记选民，28 是一个很小的数字。

DETROW: Let's go back to that initial list of 20,000 names, though.

DETROW：不过，让我们回到最初的 20,000 个名字的列表。

Did we learn anything more today about how the federal Department of Justice came up with the list?

今天我们是否对联邦司法部如何制定这份名单有了更多了解？

JOFFE-BLOCK: It's notoriously difficult to do this kind of analysis without coming up with a lot of false positives.

JOFFE-BLOCK：众所周知，在不出现大量误报的情况下进行此类分析是非常困难的。

And the accusations here do keep changing.

这里的指控确实在不断变化。

So first, the president announced in July there were hundreds of thousands of noncitizens in four state voter rolls.

首先，总统在七月份宣布四个州的选民名册中有数十万非公民。

Then DHS clarified those were potential noncitizens.

然后国土安全部澄清这些人是潜在的非公民。

Now DOJ is saying they feel pretty confident in the 20,000 in California.

现在，司法部表示，他们对加州的 20,000 人非常有信心。

Excuse me.

打扰一下。

But even with this ambiguity, Bill Essayli, who's a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, reiterated a warning to California officials.

但即使存在这种模糊性，洛杉矶联邦检察官比尔·埃萨利 (Bill Essayli) 仍向加州官员重申了警告。

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) BILL ESSAYLI: Not only is it a civil violation, but they could also face criminal consequences for that conduct if they knowingly process ballots from noncitizens once we've informed them who the noncitizens are.

（存档录音的声音片段） BILL ESSAYLI：这不仅是民事违法行为，而且如果我们告知非公民身份后他们故意处理非公民的选票，他们还可能因此行为面临刑事后果。

JOFFE-BLOCK: You know, legal experts have questioned whether such prosecutions would hold up, but it's certainly raising the stakes to make this threat.

乔夫-布洛克：你知道，法律专家质疑这样的起诉是否成立，但这肯定会增加发出这一威胁的风险。

DETROW: Like we said, Election Day itself, two weeks away, but voting is underway in many places.

德特罗：正如我们所说，距离选举日还有两周时间，但许多地方的投票正在进行中。

In D.C., I've already gotten my ballot in the mail, as has many other voters across the country.

在华盛顿，我已经收到了邮寄的选票，全国各地的许多其他选民也是如此。

What does this mean for the midterms?

这对中期选举意味着什么？

JOFFE-BLOCK: Yeah.

乔夫·布洛克：是的。

I talked with Rick Hasen at UCLA's law school, who told me there's a few things he's worried about.

我与加州大学洛杉矶分校法学院的里克·哈森进行了交谈，他告诉我他担心一些事情。

You know, one risk is that eligible voters might wind up disenfranchised.

您知道，一个风险是符合资格的选民最终可能会被剥夺选举权。

Another is undermining confidence in the elections, and he's worried what happens in California could be used as a pretext to seize ballots or interfere after the election is over.

另一个是破坏人们对选举的信心，他担心加州发生的事情可能会被用作夺取选票或在选举结束后进行干预的借口。

There's other...

还有其他的...

DETROW: And that is NPR's Jude Joffe-Block.

DETROW：这是 NPR 的 Jude Joffe-Block。

Thank you so much.

太感谢了。

JOFFE-BLOCK: Thank you.

乔夫·布洛克： 谢谢。

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