On Oct. 22, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent Santa Barbara County a list of 180 residents—names of “likely aliens” illegally registered to vote, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District Bilal A. Essayli alleged.
“Within 48 hours, we ask that you commit to working with DOJ and DHS [Department of Homeland Security] to identify who on the accompanying list is a citizen and who is not,” Essayli wrote to Clerk, Recorder, Assessor, and Registrar of Voters Joseph E. Holland.
“That means sending us the nonpublic information associated with each suspected alien’s registration,” stated Essayli, who requested Social Security numbers, copies of voter and DMV registration applications, and other records tied to each of the 180 individuals listed.
Voting officials across California received similar letters, including San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano, who said she rejected the DOJ’s request for records of “63 likely aliens” and to segregate their ballots in the Nov. 3 election.
The Sun reached out to Santa Barbara County’s Elections Division to ask how Holland responded to his Oct. 22 letter from the DOJ. As of press time on Nov. 3, the Sun had not received a response.
“Any response about this will need to come directly from the Elections Division,” County Executive Office Communications and Outreach Coordinator Jackie Ruiz said in an Oct. 27 email.
Ruiz directed the Sun to the Elections Division’s media contact, Martin Cobos, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Santa Barbara County Clerk-elect Melinda Greene told the Sun she’s unable to comment on the letter because she doesn’t take office until January 2027.
SLO County District Attorney Dan Dow announced on Oct. 29 that he is actively investigating the 63 individuals outlined in the letter Cano received.
On Nov. 2, Dow joined First Assistant U.S. Attorney Essayli and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Erin Burke in a Los Angeles press conference to formally announce investigations into people suspected of voter fraud. He was the only DA in the state who attended.
That day, Dow’s office filed charges against 31-year-old John Ruel S. Ambos for counts of voter registration fraud and perjury in 2016, and fraudulent voting in 2021.
“This is the first case that my office has filed since we received the list of registrants from our federal partners, and we are close to making filing decisions in 16 other similar cases,” Dow said during the press conference. “If we, as state and local prosecutors, ignore this problem and don’t enforce the law, we may as well just erase that requirement of citizenship from our Constitution.
“I want to be clear,” Dow added. “Mr. Ambos is legally presumed innocent under California law until proven guilty, either by a plea or a verdict.
A criminal complaint is an accusation. It’s not final proof.”
Dow and the DOJ’s Office did not respond to the Sun when asked about other DAs potentially launching their own investigations.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch said he doesn’t have plans to look into the list of 180 names provided to the county.
“The District Attorney’s Office is not conducting an investigation in this matter,” Savrnoch replied via email. “The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office has complete confidence in the continued effectiveness of the Santa Barbara County clerk-recorder to maintain and protect the accuracy and integrity of the voter rolls in Santa Barbara County.”
This article appears in November 5 – November 12, 2026.
