Judicial Watch Sues California to Clean Up 873,000 Inactive Voter Registrations on Rolls

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a California political candidate and a state political party against the State of California due to its failure to maintain accurate voter rolls as required by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) (Don Wagner et al. v. Shirley N. Weber, in her official capacity as California Secretary of State (No. 8:26-cv-01263)).

Federal law requires most inactive voter registrations to be removed after two general federal elections. The new federal lawsuit alleges, based on admissions in prior Judicial Watch litigation, that 873,092 voter registrations have remained continuously inactive for at least three federal elections, and some for much longer. Of these registrations, 326,808 have remained continuously inactive through at least three consecutive federal general elections, while 151,202 have remained inactive through at least four consecutive federal general elections. 

In addition, 33,922 voter registrations have remained continuously inactive through at least five consecutive federal general elections — dating back at least ten years, to before the November 5, 2016, presidential election.

Under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), states are required to make reasonable efforts to remove ineligible voters from the voter rolls, including those who have died or moved. The lawsuit also alleges, again citing admissions by California officials, that the state takes no effective action to require counties to comply with the NVRA. As a result, they do not comply.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Don Wagner, an elected member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors and candidate for California Secretary of State, and the American Independent Party of California. 

In June 2025, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), as required by law, issued a report to Congress on states’ NVRA compliance. Citing this report, Judicial Watch points out that 20 California counties removed 50 or fewer inactive voters from their rolls between November 2022 and November 2024. Ten of these counties reported zero removals of inactives under the relevant statute during that time period. These include Alpine, Imperial, Inyo, Kings, Mariposa, Mendocino, Plumas, San Bernardino, Tehama, and Trinity. Counties reporting 50 or fewer removals include Butte, Colusa, Contra Costa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Sonoma, and Tuolumne.

Judicial Watch argues:

The 20 counties reporting zero to 50 registrations pursuant to NVRA Section 8(d)(1)(B) during the period from November 2022 to November 2024 reported a combined total of 3,440,358 voter registrations to the EAC. Yet these 20 counties reported removing a grand total of just 218 registrations under that provision during that period.

For context, Judicial Watch points out that San Diego County, with 2.2 million registered voters, removed over 300,000 voter registrations under that statute during the same time period.

Currently, over 23 million Californians are registered to vote.

Additionally, Judicial Watch states that Census Bureau data shows:

• 660,000 California residents moved out of state in 2024;
• 690,000 in 2023; and
• 818,000 in 2022.

Judicial Watch points out that if California “was actually conducting a general program that makes a reasonable effort to cancel the registrations of voters who have become ineligible because of a change of residence, it would not be possible” for these counties to cancel so few registrations under the NVRA in a two-year period.”

The lawsuit also notes that “comparing the total number of voter registrations reported to the EAC in each California county to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent five-year estimates of voting-age citizenry indicates that 18 California counties have more voter registrations than citizens over the age of eighteen.”

In March 2019, the State of California and Los Angeles County settled a December 2017 lawsuit with Judicial Watch that resulted in the removal of more than 1.2 million names from voter rolls.

“Judicial Watch’s federal lawsuit confirms California has a dirty voting rolls crisis – with thousands of old names on the rolls going back at least 10 years,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Dirty voting rolls can mean dirty elections. And California and its counties must take immediate steps to clean the over 870,000 dirty names on the voting lists.”

Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court Central District of California Western Division. The complaint asks the court to declare California in violation of Section 8(a)(4) of the NVRA and to permanently enjoin the state from further violations. It also seeks an order requiring California to implement a lawful voter-roll maintenance program to remove ineligible registrants.

Judicial Watch is assisted by the Benbrook Law Group of Sacramento, California.

Judicial Watch is a national leader in election integrity and voting rights litigation, with a record of successful lawsuits enforcing constitutional redistricting standards and cleaning voter rolls nationwide.

Judicial Watch’s lawsuits and legal actions have caused  the removal of six million ineligible names from voter lists nationwide.

Robert Popper, a Judicial Watch senior attorney, leads its election law program. Popper was previously in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, where he managed voting rights investigations, litigations, consent decrees, and settlements in dozens of states.

In April 2026, Judicial Watch announced a settlement in its federal lawsuit against Oregon election officials, which confirms 800,000 ineligible voter names are slated for review and removal from voter registration lists.

Colorado recently removed 372,000 ineligible voter names thanks to a Judicial Watch lawsuit and settlement addressing the state’s compliance with federal voter list maintenance requirements.

In Kentucky, state election board officials reported that “roughly 735,000 ineligible voter registrations” have been removed from voter rolls, as part of a 2018 consent decree settling a Judicial Watch lawsuit.

As part of its 2022 settlement, New York City alone has removed 918,139 ineligible names from its rolls: data show 477,056 removals between March 2023 and February 2025, which is in addition to the 441,083 previously reported removals.

Judicial Watch legal pressure also resulted in election roll clean-ups in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Ohio.

A federal court in Illinois has ruled that Judicial Watch’s lawsuit to force the cleaning of voter rolls may proceed in that state. Judicial Watch has sent a notice-of-violation letter to election officials in California, and legal action over the state’s voter rolls is imminent.

In March 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States held oral argument in a landmark election integrity case over whether the federal Election Day laws prohibit the counting of mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day. Judicial Watch brought the underlying lawsuit on behalf of the Libertarian Party of Mississippi.

In January 2026, in a historic case filed by Judicial Watch, the Supreme Cour decided 7-2 in favor of Congressman Mike Bost and two presidential electors who were before the court to vindicate their standing to challenge an Illinois law allowing the counting of ballots received up to 14 days after Election Day.

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