San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow and his Bureau of Investigation are looking into voter eligibility concerns. Two matters are being investigated: a list from federal authorities of 63 suspected non-citizens registered to vote in San Luis Obispo County, and referrals from the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder about possible voter fraud in the current election.
The office will investigate and pursue criminal charges against anyone who is not legally registered to vote, according to a news release from the DA.
Federal officials requested vote-by-mail ballots be set aside and not processed until citizenship can be confirmed, not cancel the registration, according to the news release.
The office is coordinating with other agencies when necessary to establish the facts in each case and search for evidence, according to the news release.
“I am committed to doing everything within my power to ensure that San Luis Obispo County elections are as secure as possible under the law. We will fully investigate all credible referrals,” Dow said in the news release.
The list of 63 suspects was originally sent to County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano by Bilal A. Essayli, the first assistant United States attorney for the Central District of California. It was then provided to the DA’s office. The people on the list were identified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as “likely non-citizens,” according to the news release.
At least 18 counties in California received these lists, including Butte County, Fresno County and San Benito county, where state officials are questioning the legality and accuracy of the claims of federal authorities, according to CalMatters. Several officials have found the lists contain incomplete and inaccurate data, including names that are not registered to vote at all. San Luis Obispo County is the only county so far investigating these claims.
Being named on the list is not proof of a crime, and every person is presumed innocent, according to the news release. Evidence gathered and reviewed by the DA’s office will be used to determine if criminal charges are necessary.
Voter fraud cases in California have historically been relatively low compared to the number of ballots turned in every year. The voter fraud study from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank often cited by the Trump administration, states there have been roughly 1,100 cases of voter fraud in the United States from 1981 to 2025. In California, over the four decades of this study, there were 71 total cases of voter fraud. California has a population of 39.4 million as of 2025.
Proposition 39, a proposition projected to be rejected after the recent midterm elections, would’ve required an extra level of identification to verify ballots. Supporters of the proposition argued it would prevent voter fraud in addition to simplifying the verification process. Opposition to the proposition argued it would cause barriers to voting, and not affect the speed of verification processes, which already has mechanisms in place to prevent voter fraud.
READ MORE: What is Proposition 39?
The Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to intervene after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected federal officials’ requests to stop processing ballots. Data scientists at University of California Los Angeles’ Voting Rights Project found 42% of names found by the department on these lists cannot be found on state voter rolls. State officials are still challenging the legality of these lists after the department issued subpoenas to election officials.
According to election officials, these requests came last minute before Election Day, leaving no time for an investigation to remove ineligible voters from state voter rolls. These investigations can take months, which election officials did not have.
In San Luis Obispo County, there have been several cases of voter fraud in local elections — the most recent being Gaea Powell. Powell, two-time Arroyo Grande mayoral candidate, was convicted by a jury in September for election fraud in 2022 and 2024.
READ MORE: Former Arroyo Grande mayoral candidate found guilty of voter fraud
The investigation into Powell’s case began over a year prior, in June 2025. Dow and his office are responsible for investigating these cases.
Mustang News reached out to Dow twice for comment but did not receive a response.
