MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont has joined a coalition of state attorneys general backing California against a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit that seeks to stop California election officials from counting more than 20,000 ballots, the office of Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark said.

In the case, USA v. California, the Justice Department claims the voters are "likely" noncitizens. Clark's office said the department has offered no proof for that claim. It said the claim echoes similar allegations the federal government made against 16,000 people in Nevada, none of whom the Justice Department has confirmed to be noncitizens.

The friend-of-the-court brief, led by Washington state, argues that the lawsuit has no constitutional basis, would bring chaos for state and local election officials nationwide and risks disenfranchising voters, according to the Vermont attorney general's office. The office said the Constitution gives states the power to run elections under federal laws passed by Congress, not under rules dictated by the president or the executive branch.

Clark's office described the lawsuit as part of the Trump administration's efforts to sow doubt about the legitimacy of the midterm elections. It said courts have rejected executive orders and agency rules that would have shifted control of elections away from states, and that more than two dozen courts have found illegal the Justice Department's demands for confidential state voter registration lists and its threats to prosecute state officials.

Among New England states, the attorneys general of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island also joined the brief. New Hampshire is not listed among the participants. The other signers are Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Wisconsin.

This brief was drafted by AI from a public agency or political press release and published by The New England Signal. Why we use AI for stories like this one.