Butte County Clerk Disputes DOJ Demand After Receiving Flawed Voter List

A federal demand letter sent to Butte County on Friday identified 47 likely noncitizens, yet the accompanying list contained only 46 names. Keaton Denlay, the county clerk-recorder for the population of 209,000, stated that the document provided by the Department of Justice was riddled with errors that prevented his office from acting on the request.

Denlay said a federal agent from the Department of Homeland Security hand-delivered the paperwork at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. The package included two declarations, a demand letter, and a two-page printout. The letter, signed by Eric Grant, the U.S. attorney for the eastern district of California, misspelled Denlay's name as Danlay. It warned that officials who knowingly tabulate ballots from noncitizens risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime.

The letter demanded that the county segregate, not cancel, the vote-by-mail ballots of the listed individuals until their citizenship status was determined. Prosecutors gave local leaders 48 hours to respond. Denlay noted that the two-page list consisted of two copies of the same data. While the letter claimed 47 individuals, the list held 46 entries, with one name appearing twice. This left 45 distinct names to verify.

Denlay found that 32 of those 45 names were not on Butte County's active voter rolls and had not been sent ballots. Seven of the remaining names lacked sufficient data for cross-referencing, such as complete addresses or social security digits. This calculation left six names that might have been eligible for review under the federal claim.

The document itself appeared to be a poorly formatted Excel spreadsheet with missing and jumbled information. Columns were too narrow, causing data to cut off. Denlay said he never received a digital copy of the file, making it difficult to verify the fields against the county's database. He personally reviewed the records to allow his staff to focus on election duties.

"Taking all this information as a whole, it kind of becomes absurd, so I'm not losing any sleep over it," Denlay said in a Wednesday interview. He described the experience as a rollercoaster of emotions but emphasized that he must take claims of federal fraud seriously. He concluded that the list did not provide actionable information.

The Department of Justice has aggressively targeted California in the final weeks of the midterm elections. Federal officials allege that 20,000 voters in the state are likely noncitizens and have sued to stop those ballots from being counted. State officials argue the federal government lacks authority to interfere in this manner and that prosecutors are using unreliable data.

Other county officials reported similar issues. Francisco Diaz, the registrar of voters for San Benito County, said his office received a list of 33 names, some of whom were not currently registered. Diaz stated his office would not be intimidated by agents with guns nor rushed into compromising confidential voter data. In Orange County, the letter was initially delivered to the clerk-recorder, a role that handles marriage licenses and property deeds, rather than the elections office.

Legal experts have described the threats as attempts to intimidate local officials. Denlay cited California law, which places the burden of establishing extraordinary proof on the challenger when disputing a voter's eligibility. He stated that the list did not come close to meeting that standard.

Lauren Horwood, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office, declined to comment on Denlay's statement. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry. Denlay said he has had no further communication with the Department of Justice since receiving the letter.