When Americans cast a ballot, they deserve confidence that the election system is accurate, transparent, and administered according to the law. Regardless of political affiliation, maintaining clean voter rolls should not be controversial. It is a basic requirement of election integrity.
That is why a new federal lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch against California Secretary of State Shirley Weber deserves serious attention.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court on behalf of Orange County Supervisor and California Secretary of State candidate Don Wagner and the American Independent Party of California, alleges that California is violating the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by failing to remove hundreds of thousands of inactive voter registrations from the state’s voter rolls.
The numbers are staggering.
According to the complaint, California currently has 873,092 voter registrations that have remained continuously inactive for at least three consecutive federal election cycles. More than 151,000 registrations have remained inactive through four consecutive federal elections, while nearly 34,000 registrations have remained inactive through five consecutive federal elections—meaning some have remained on the rolls for more than a decade.
Federal law is not ambiguous on this issue.
The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires states to make reasonable efforts to remove voters who have become ineligible due to death, relocation, or prolonged inactivity. Under the law, most inactive registrations are supposed to be removed after two federal election cycles if the voter fails to respond to confirmation notices and does not participate in elections.
The lawsuit alleges California has simply failed to do so.
Even more troubling are the county-level statistics cited in the complaint.
According to data reported to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, twenty California counties removed fifty or fewer inactive registrations during the two-year period between November 2022 and November 2024. Ten counties reportedly removed zero inactive registrations under the relevant federal provision.
Think about that for a moment.
These twenty counties collectively reported more than 3.4 million registered voters. Yet they removed only 218 inactive registrations during a two-year period.
By comparison, San Diego County alone removed more than 300,000 registrations during the same timeframe.
Those wildly inconsistent numbers raise obvious questions. If one county can identify and remove hundreds of thousands of outdated registrations, how is it possible that others found virtually none?
The lawsuit points to another significant concern.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, approximately 660,000 Californians moved out of state in 2024. Another 690,000 left in 2023. More than 818,000 departed in 2022.
That means over two million Californians relocated out of the state during a three-year period.
If voter rolls are being properly maintained, one would reasonably expect substantial numbers of outdated registrations to be removed as voters establish residency elsewhere. Yet many counties appear to have reported almost no activity.
The complaint further alleges that California has failed to effectively enforce compliance among county election officials despite having clear authority and responsibility to do so.
This is not the first time California has faced these accusations.
In 2019, California and Los Angeles County settled a Judicial Watch lawsuit that ultimately resulted in the removal of more than 1.2 million names from voter rolls. That settlement was widely viewed as a significant acknowledgment that voter registration databases had become bloated with outdated registrations.
The current lawsuit suggests the underlying problem was never fully solved.
Perhaps the most alarming allegation involves registration rates that appear to exceed eligible populations. According to the complaint, eighteen California counties reportedly have more registered voters than voting-age citizens based on Census Bureau estimates.
While such discrepancies can occur for various administrative reasons and do not automatically indicate fraud, they are precisely the kinds of anomalies that undermine public confidence in elections.
Election integrity is not simply about preventing fraud. It is about maintaining confidence in the process.
Americans should not have to wonder whether voter rolls are accurate.
They should not have to question whether election officials are following federal law.
And they certainly should not be forced to rely on private watchdog organizations to compel government agencies to perform basic statutory duties.
Unfortunately, California has become increasingly known for resisting scrutiny of its election systems. Critics are frequently dismissed, concerns are often ignored, and meaningful transparency is sometimes treated as a political threat rather than a public obligation.
That approach is unsustainable.
Whether one believes election fraud is widespread, rare, or somewhere in between, every American should agree on one principle: voter rolls should be accurate.
Removing outdated registrations does not suppress votes.
Dead people do not vote.
People who have permanently moved away should not remain indefinitely on voter rolls.
And registrations that have remained inactive through three, four, or even five federal election cycles should receive careful review consistent with federal law.
The Judicial Watch lawsuit will now move through the federal court system, where California officials will have an opportunity to defend their practices and respond to the allegations.
But regardless of the outcome, the lawsuit highlights a troubling reality.
A state with more than 23 million registered voters should be leading the nation in election administration standards, not defending itself against allegations that nearly 900,000 inactive registrations have been allowed to remain on the rolls.
Election integrity should not be a Republican issue or a Democrat issue.
It should be an American issue.
And until California demonstrates that it is fully complying with federal voter-roll maintenance requirements, questions about the accuracy of its voter registration system are unlikely to disappear.
Phil Hotsenpiller is the Founder of American Faith and Senior Pastor of Influence Church in Anaheim Hills, California. A theologian, cultural commentator, and author, he speaks on leadership, faith, and national renewal.
