On Monday, The Federalist posted an article about California’s lack of ability to determine how many noncitizens have been removed from its voting rolls or the lack of a policy to investing illegal voting.

The article reports:

For years, Americans have been told that concerns about noncitizens voting are a myth, a right-wing talking point unworthy of serious attention. California’s own secretary of state and attorney general have proven otherwise, however, not by admitting the state has no idea whether, or how often, it’s even happening, but by indicating the state isn’t bothering to track it.

A few weeks ago, the ACLJ (American Center For Law & Justice) submitted two California Public Records Act (CPRA) requests — one to the California secretary of state and one to Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office — seeking records on how the state maintains the integrity of its voter rolls. The Attorney General’s Office took an extension, ultimately responding on Aug. 10.

The Secretary of State’s Office responded first, but refused to provide any records responsive to our request. According to its answer, the statewide voter registration system simply “does not contain” a specific cancellation reason for non-citizenship. In other words, the state cannot tell us how many noncitizens have ever been removed from its voter rolls — because it doesn’t keep that information at all.

The article concludes:

It’s also worth noting that California doesn’t require proof of citizenship or lawful presence for a certain category of driver’s license, AB 60 — the same kind of licensing pathway that triggered New Jersey’s noncitizen voter roll problem. And driver’s licenses are used to establish identity.

The ACLJ isn’t done here. We’re pressing for the records that California’s DOJ says it’s still reviewing, and depending on what — or what isn’t — in that response, our options range from further legal demands to potential litigation for noncompliance with state and federal recordkeeping laws.

The California Secretary of State’s Office has now told the country that it doesn’t know how many noncitizens have been removed from its voter rolls, and the Attorney General’s Office admitted that it has no formal policy for investigating illegal voting when it’s reported. That’s not a technicality. That’s a transparency failure in need of further investigation.

This is no way to run a state!