The U.S. Department of Justice sought voting records for 25 San Diego County residents through five grand jury subpoenas this year. Inewsource first reported the subpoenas Saturday, Oct. 17, as the DOJ presses its challenge to California's voter rolls before the Nov. 3 election.

The subpoenas, issued between late May and Sept. 16 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, sought voter registration applications, voting histories spanning five to 15 years and citizenship attestations. One July subpoena requested "the ballot itself," according to inewsource's review of the documents.

San Diego County said it complied with the subpoenas as required by law. The county said it does not maintain records linking voters to their ballots. "Both state and federal law prohibit releasing any information that would reveal voter selections," the county statement said, according to inewsource.

The subpoenas all came from the Southern District's offices in downtown San Diego, headed by U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon, inewsource reported. Southern District spokesperson Kelly Thornton told inewsource the office had not filed any voter fraud cases this year as of early October.

The San Diego County Registrar of Voters confirmed it received just one DOJ subpoena for voter records in 2025 and none in 2024 or 2023, according to inewsource's earlier reporting. Phillip Talbert, a former U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of California, told inewsource the investigation appeared coordinated.

"Nothing like this took place in the Eastern District of California during my time there," Talbert said, according to inewsource.

The local subpoenas are part of a broader federal push. The Trump administration sued California, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and a Los Angeles County official on Thursday, Oct. 15, asking a judge to block the state from counting mail-in ballots from people the federal government identified as "likely" noncitizens, NBC San Diego reported. The lawsuit followed California's failure to meet a 48-hour deadline to review a list of 20,000 names delivered on a thumb drive with the password on a sticky note.

Weber said the federal government had not provided evidence to support its claim that 20,000 names on the state's voter rolls belong to noncitizens. The Department of Homeland Security alleged in July that as many as 190,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in California, without providing evidence. That figure dropped to 20,000 in the DOJ's lawsuit.

Similar federal claims have faltered elsewhere. In Nevada, the federal government initially flagged nearly 16,000 possible noncitizens but ultimately identified only 185, according to inewsource. Nevada officials said all 185 were U.S. citizens. DHS disputes that finding.

San Diego County Registrar of Voters spokeswoman Antonia Hutzel said in a statement to inewsource that the office follows all federal and state laws regarding voter eligibility. She added that "elections in San Diego County remain safe and secure."

County Registrar Shawn Brom echoed that message in a Tuesday, Oct. 13, interview with Fox 5 San Diego, saying voting in the county is "safe, secure, and accessible."

District 1 Supervisor Paloma Aguirre told inewsource in an Oct. 8 report that she wants the public to see what was requested. "If the law allows it, release them," Aguirre said.

San Diego County's mail-in ballot deadline is Nov. 3. Vote centers open Oct. 24, with all centers open starting Oct. 31.