Suit demands state keep non-citizens from voting

President Donald J. Trump's accusation that millions of people who entered the U.S. illegally also voted in California in the last election will be considered by the same judge who just ruled the state cannot demand Trump's tax returns in order to appear on the primary ballot.

Harmeet K. Dhillon, head of Dhillon Law Group in San Francisco, sued Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Tuesday on behalf of three voters who believe their "legitimate vote is being diluted by the illegal votes of non-citizens," according to the complaint filed in the Eastern District of California. The complaint cites alleged violations of the National Voter Registration Act. Hoge v. Padilla, 19CV01985 (E.D. Cal., filed Oct. 1, 2019).

The voter registration act "requires Padilla to make a determination whether someone is a citizen, and if that person is not a citizen, or is otherwise ineligible to vote, to send to him or her a notification that he or she is not registered to vote," the complaint stated.

Dhillon was also lead attorney in one of five complaints challenging SB 27, a new state law that demands presidential candidates show five years of tax returns in order to appear on the primary ballot in California. At a court hearing last month, U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. in Sacramento ruled from the bench to enjoin enforcement of the law. Donald J. Trump for President v. Padilla, 19CV01501 (E.D. Cal., filed Aug. 6, 2019).

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England finalized his ruling in writing on Tuesday, hours after Dhillon's new case was filed.

He wrote, "Plaintiffs are likely to prevail" on claims relating to the federal Ethics In Government Act and several constitutional claims under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the equal protection and presidential qualifications clauses.

"California will appeal this ruling, and we will continue to make our thorough, thoughtful argument for stronger financial disclosure requirements for presidential and gubernatorial candidates," Padilla said in an emailed statement from his office. "Our elected leaders have a legal and moral obligation to be transparent with voters about potential conflicts of interest. This law is fundamental to preserving and protecting American democracy."

While no hearing date has been set, the state attorney general's attorneys will be back in front of England soon defending Padilla and the California Department of Motor Vehicles. His office may have an easier time in the new case. Trump's critics argue he has never cited concrete evidence of the illegal voting he says has taken place.

"The plaintiffs claim they are protecting voters, but this is nothing more than an underhanded attempt to bring their voter suppression playbook to California," Padilla said in a separate statement about the new complaint. "As we have seen in other states -- most recently in Kansas and Texas -- these efforts only serve to disenfranchise thousands of eligible citizens."

At the same time, however, the California New Motor Voter Act at the center of the plaintiffs' claims has unquestionably encountered problems. The law, passed in 2015 as AB 1461, was sponsored by Padilla's office. It calls on the DMV to send license information to the Secretary of State and take other steps designed to get more people registered to vote.

Opponents of the law said this would lead to non-citizens being able to vote, especially in combination with a law passed in 2014, SB 60. That allows non-citizens to get California driver's licenses.

Last year, Padilla disclosed there were problems with thousands of voter registrations though he said these problems were being fixed and most faulty registrations were being fixed in conjunction with county election officials.

The plaintiffs represented by Dhillon sent Padilla's office a notice letter in May demanding he begin comparing the state voter registration database with other records showing citizenship. Padilla responded with a letter stating he was not violating the federal voter registration law. The plaintiffs then sent a similar letter to then acting DMV director Kathleen Webb making similar demands of her office and received the same response.