Voter fraud in California: what the law, the numbers and the courts show before Nov. 3

SAN JOSE - Voter fraud is a crime in California, and studies and state officials say it is rare. Federal officials say noncitizens may be on the state's voter rolls. Courts have ruled on parts of that dispute in the past week. Here is what the public record shows before the Nov. 3 election.

What state law says

Fraudulently voting when you are not eligible, voting more than once, or pretending to be another voter is a crime under Elections Code section 18560. It can be charged as a felony, with 16 months to three years, or as a misdemeanor with up to a year in county jail.

In 2023 the Legislature added a new rule. Assembly Bill 1539, by Assemblymember Berman, added section 18560.1 to the Elections Code. It makes it a misdemeanor to vote in California and in another state in elections held on the same day. A misdemeanor is a lesser crime than a felony. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it on Oct. 10, 2023.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office sponsored the bill, according to an Assembly committee analysis. The office told lawmakers that a couple who owned property in California and Oregon voted in both states in five November elections, 2010 through 2018. An adult child did too in 2016 and 2018. Because California law did not clearly ban this, the office said it could not bring charges and left the case to Oregon officials. The legislative records do not name the people involved.

How often fraud happens

A Brennan Center for Justice report, a law and policy institute at New York University, found fraud rates between 0.0003% and 0.0025% in the elections it studied, the center reported. A 2017 Brennan Center survey of 42 places found about 30 suspected cases of noncitizen voting out of 23.5 million votes in 2016.

State figures show few prosecutions. From 1994 to 2010, the Secretary of State's Election Fraud Investigation Unit opened 960 cases of voter registration fraud, sent 99 to district attorneys and saw 64 convictions, according to a 2013 Assembly Elections Committee analysis. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, lists 1,619 cases nationwide that it counts as proven in its election fraud database. Heritage calls the list a sampling, not a full count.

All the evidence — counts, recounts, hand counts, audits — shows that voter fraud is exceedingly rare. — Rob Bonta, California Attorney General

What federal officials are doing

President Donald Trump signed two orders on elections. The first, from March 2025, calls for proof of citizenship on the federal voter registration form. The second, Executive Order 14399, was published April 3, 2026. It told the U.S. Postal Service to write new rules for mail ballots, according to the Congressional Research Service, which works for Congress.

The Justice Department and Homeland Security have opened investigations into alleged voter fraud and noncitizen voting, the research service said Sept. 21. It said the Justice Department reportedly plans to send about 1,000 people to watch polling places on Nov. 3.

In Congress, the House passed the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register, 218-213 on Feb. 11, 2026. The Senate fell short of the 60 votes needed to end debate on March 26, voting 53-47, Congress records show. It has not become law.

Recent court rulings

A federal judge in Boston permanently blocked key parts of the 2025 order on June 24, 2026, including the citizenship-proof rule. On Sept. 14, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to let the new Postal Service ballot rules take effect. It said the government was unlikely to win.

On Oct. 15, the United States sued California, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan. It wanted ballots from about 20,000 people it calls "likely" noncitizens set aside, the attorney general said. A review of 200 names by Los Angeles County found 38.9% listed a U.S. birthplace, the attorney general said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed the government's appeal on Oct. 26. It said the trial court had not yet had a fair chance to rule. On Oct. 28, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter denied the request to set ballots aside. "Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred," he wrote.

How California is responding

Attorney General Rob Bonta's office issued guidance on Oct. 28 about voter intimidation and about police at voting sites under Senate Bill 73, a 2026 state law. His office also has a team ready to help the secretary of state on Election Day.

Santa Clara County refused a similar demand. An Oct. 23 Justice Department letter gave the county's Registrar of Voters a list of 902 people it called likely noncitizens. It asked for their confidential voter records and for their ballots to be set aside. County Counsel Tony LoPresti and County Executive James R. Williams wrote back that doing so would break federal and state law, the county said Oct. 26.

What it means for voters on Nov. 3

Mail ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 count if they arrive within seven days, under Elections Code section 3020. Election workers compare each envelope signature to the voter's file. A ballot is rejected only if two more workers agree the signature does not match, under section 3019. Voters must be told and given a chance to fix it.

Voters statewide, including in Santa Clara County, have until 5 p.m. Nov. 25 to fix a signature problem, the secretary of state says. Voters can track ballots at WheresMyBallot.sos.ca.gov.

Ballot processing is open to the public. Party members and other groups may watch and challenge how ballots are handled, but may not challenge a signature as a mismatch, under section 15104. Voters with questions can call the state voter hotline at (800) 345-VOTE.

Source: Elections Code 18560; AB 1539; Order denying TRO, U.S. v. California, Oct. 28, 2026; Ninth Circuit order, No. 26-7070; County of Santa Clara release, Oct. 26, 2026; CRS In Focus IF13316