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Nearly a dozen Calif. counties had more registered voters than eligible voters in 2016 election
Judicial Watch has threatened to sue California after it was discovered that 11 counties had more registered voters than eligible voters. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Nearly a dozen Calif. counties had more registered voters than eligible voters in 2016 election

Nearly one dozen California counties had more registered voters on their voter rolls than people eligible to vote living in their county, a new Judicial Watch letter has revealed.

The conservative watchdog group sent a letter to California Secretary of State Alex Padilla on August 1 on behalf of the Election Integrity Project of California. The letter threatened to sue the Golden State if they refuse to comply with the National Voter Registration Act, which mandates voting precincts maintain the integrity of their voter rolls by taking steps to maintain their accuracy.

According to a Judicial Watch press release:

In the letter, Judicial Watch noted that public records obtained on the Election Assistance Commission’s 2016 Election Administration Voting Survey and through verbal accounts from various county agencies show 11 California counties have more registered voters than voting-age citizens: Imperial (102%), Lassen (102%), Los Angeles (112%), Monterey (104%), San Diego (138%), San Francisco (114%), San Mateo (111%), Santa Cruz (109%), Solano (111%), Stanislaus (102%), and Yolo (110%).

Judicial Watch went on to report that officials from Los Angeles County since told the watchdog group in June that the "total number of registered voters now stands at a number that is a whopping 144% of the total number of resident citizens of voting age" for that county.

"California’s voting rolls are an absolute mess that undermines the very idea of clean elections. It is urgent that California take reasonable steps to clean up its rolls," Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement.

"We will sue if state officials fail to act," he charged.

Section 8 of the NVRA requires states and voting precincts to take appropriate steps to maintain the accuracy of their voting rolls. Such steps include: ensuring those ineligible to vote don't register and removing voters who have died or moved away.

Judicial Watch, in their letter, gave Padilla 30 days to respond and 90 days to correct the issues — or Judicial Watch will make good on their promise to litigate.

The recent letter was not the first time Judicial Watch threatened to sue a state for appearing to be out of regulation with the NVRA.

The organization notes in their press released that in April they also sent a letter to 11 states threatening to sue should they fail to comply with the NVRA. Those states included: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Tennessee.

President Donald Trump lost California in last year's presidential election to Hillary Clinton by more than 3.4 million votes.

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