Feds demand L.A. County voter rolls despite new state law Play

Los Angeles County has been ordered to turn over voting records to the federal government — names that may sound to anonymous informants to be noncitizens who are illegally voting.

Saturday, the Trump political appointee in charge of the Los Angeles federal prosecutor's office declared that no state law can prevent his Justice Department from investigating what it believes to be voter fraud on the California voter rolls.

Late last week, the governor signed a new state law that prohibits federal agents from interfering in local elections. Federal prosecutors have served at least three subpoenas to the L.A. County elections office, demanding voter lists.

Last week, a Department of Homeland Security whistleblower said the federal government is using poorly trained employees. They have been ordered to comb through California voting lists to come up with at least five potentially illegal voters per hour. Homeland Security used the term "magic" as their criteria for flagging supposed illegal voters.

State Senator Aisha Wahab told the ABC station in San Francisco that the new California laws are designed to prevent political fishing expeditions like what we are already seeing from the Trump Justice Department.

WAHAB: "I want to be very clear that this is again protecting our democracy. This is about protecting every Californian's right to be able to vote, and to vote how they want."

U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli heads the federal prosecutor's office in Los Angeles. He did not respond to questions from the Los Angeles Times about this.

Trump has been ordered to keep his hands off the U.S. Postal Service this fall, as it handles three out of every four ballots submitted in California. The state says it is an extremely successful way to get more people to vote, with an infinitesimal number of illegal ballots cast.

This article is based on reporting by the Los Angeles Times and ABC San Francisco.