The Orange County registrar of voters received three subpoenas in September seeking voter records for 20 people, according to documents provided to the Orange County Register.
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The U.S. Department of Justice requested voter records from January 2024 to present, including registration information, addresses, history and methods of voting, and the registrant’s claims about their citizenship status.
The information was sought in connection with “an official criminal investigation” conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a letter from Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wheat said.
Registrar of Voters Bob Page said he complied with the subpoenas within the timeframe requested.
One subpoena requested information about 18 people. The two others listed just one person each.
There are more than 1.9 million registered voters in Orange County, according to from the California secretary of state.
It’s unclear exactly what Homeland Security agents are investigating, and whether any investigation is ongoing. Neither a spokesperson for Homeland Security nor the agents listed on the subpoenas responded to requests for comment.
Kiersten Pels, a spokesperson for the Justice Department, declined to comment. But Pels did say the subpoenas are unrelated to a lawsuit the federal government filed against California earlier this week.
In that lawsuit, the Justice Department and Homeland Security allege there are more than 20,000 people who are “likely” noncitizens who are registered to vote in California. Since the start of last year federal agencies have made similar claims in several states, involving similar numbers of allegedly noncitizen votes, but deeper investigations have found only a handful of votes cast illegally.
Page said he has not received similar subpoenas from the federal government in past elections.
Stephen Richer, who focuses on election administration and democracy as a fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, said he is unsure how the information requested in the subpoenas issued last month could help the federal government with an investigation into voting by noncitizens.
Richer, who from 2021 through 2025 was recorder for Maricopa County, Arizona — where his elected job included overseeing voter registration and early voting administration — said his office routinely received subpoenas for individual voter records, mostly from the state attorney general or county attorney. Occasionally, the office received one from the federal government because of a federal investigation, said Richer, who was ousted by voters in 2024 amid criticism from fellow Republicans over his ardent defense of the safety of Arizona elections.
“I don’t quite see how this would help the investigation,” Richer said about the request made in Orange County.
“The voter file will not contain documented proof of citizenship,” said Richer.
“It will include the voter’s registration form, on which he will have attested that he is a United States citizen. And it will contain any subsequent modifications. And it contains the voter’s voting history (whether or not he participated in past elections, on what date, and in what manner).”
This isn’t the first time the federal government has sought information about Orange County voters.
The Justice Department sued Page in 2025 for allegedly not providing full records related to the removal of non-citizens from voter registration lists.
The federal government’s lawsuit said the attorney general requested documents showing the number of Orange County voter registrations that were cancelled from January 2020 through 2025 because the registrant did not meet citizenship requirements. The lawsuit also requested more information about each cancellation, including copies of the application, voting history and related correspondence sent or received by the county registrar related to that registration.
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Page responded to the request but redacted some information about voters deemed to be personal and sensitive, including driver’s license or state ID numbers, Social Security numbers, language preferences, race and signature images, according to both the initial lawsuit and the response from county counsel. Page’s attorneys argued that he would have violated state and federal law if he had turned over that information without a subpoena or court order.
In November, a judge ordered a stay in the case involving Page while a similar lawsuit targeting California Secretary of State Shirley Weber continued.
In the latest federal suit against California, Trent McCotter, the acting deputy U.S. attorney general, said in a letter dated Oct. 13 to the California secretary of state that the Justice Department provided officials in Los Angeles County with a list of names the federal government believes are “likely” noncitizens who were sent ballots to participate in the Nov. 3 election. The list was sent to the state in a password-protected thumb drive.
Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan confirmed on Wednesday, Oct. 14, that that he had received such a package. The letter included a USB drive described as containing a list of noncitizens who federal officials claim were sent ballots, along with a handwritten note that included a password, Logan said.
There were 20,000 names on that thumb drive. More than 23 million people are registered to vote in California.
Page said that as of Wednesday morning his office had not received a USB drive or similar communication from the Justice Department.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit against California asks a judge to bar the state from counting mail-in ballots for the midterm elections cast by people the federal government has deemed as “likely” noncitizens.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said the lawsuit was “a sad, desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day.”
“The courts have made clear that the federal government has no role in how a state carries out its election process, and now, in the middle of Californians voting, they have asked local officials — who do a damn good job defending democracy — to violate federal law,” Newsom said.
“We will continue to carry out free and fair elections in the Golden State — and call out this authoritarian as he tries every play in the dictator’s playbook,” the Democratic governor said.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, meanwhile, said this week that his department found “a significant number” of “likely noncitizens” in California who appear to be registered to vote.
“This is completely unacceptable — as even one noncitizen vote cancels out the ballot of an American citizen and undermines our elections,” Mullin said in a statement.
The state has not verified if any of the names listed by Homeland Security are or are not citizens.
California voters do not have to prove citizenship when registering to vote, but they must attest and sign a voter registration affidavit under penalty of perjury that they are a U.S. citizen.
The county registrar of voters is not authorized to independently verify citizenship status. Should an allegation arise about a voter’s citizenship status, the Orange County registrar refers the accusation to the district attorney and/or the secretary of state to investigate.
Voting is already underway in California. Registered voters were mailed ballots at the beginning of October, and voters can return their ballots through the mail, at various drop boxes or at their county registrar’s office.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.