Santa Barbara County Elections Czar Silent Amid Election Questions

At a time when the Department of Justice just sent out letters threatening 57 of California’s 58 elected elections officers with legal action if they did not purge the 20,000 noncitizens the DOJ alleges are illegally registered to vote within 48 hours, Santa Barbara’s elections czar Joe Holland has been notably conspicuous in his silence. 

Although the letter was received by county officials this past Friday, efforts by county supervisors and county CEO Jana Petersen to contact Holland for confirmation and response proved fruitless. Multiple efforts by this and other media outlets to reach Holland — now serving out the last few months left on his last term in office — and other elections officials went unanswered. Only on Monday did the county’s chief legal officer finally establish communications with Holland, who has been experiencing such protracted health challenges that it’s been more than two years since he has shown up in person at the County Elections offices.

That Holland, first elected in 2002, remained so incommunicado in the face of a direct federal threat over a serious constitutional challenge one week before the mid-term elections has ignited many supervisors and their staff into rages vacillating from incredulity to apoplexy. Supervisor Laura Capps noted that election officials in several other counties — San Luis Obispo being the closest — have spoken out in defiant opposition to the federal intrusion on the state’s exclusive authority to dictate the terms, manner, and conditions of elections within their boundaries. 

“I would have liked to have seen that here,” Capps said, adding that the county election staff provides outstanding service, despite Holland’s absence. “Voters need to be re-assured that it’s safe to vote and that the best way not to be intimidated is to stand up and vote.” 

For the time being, Santa Barbara County appears to be waiting for the storm to pass. County legal counsel noted that the DOJ’s 48 hour deadline already passed, and the letter sent to Holland, she said, was just that — a letter, not a court order. 

On Monday, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an emergency filing by the DOJ to move forward with the demand. Initially, the DOJ estimated there were up to 190,000 non-citizen voters registered in California. That number has since been modified to 20,000. 

But upon closer examination, even those numbers have proven squishy and unreliable . Two of the three judges questioned the reliability of those numbers, and questioned the federal government’s authority to interfere in a matter of state jurisdiction. Ultimately, the case was deferred to a lower court judge who has yet to issue a ruling on the merits of the case. 

That case may be resolved as of Tuesday. According to Reuters News Service, the letter to Holland listed 180 specific names of alleged undocumented registered voters. Those numbers have not been verified, nor has the status of those named been verified. In other counties and states, the lists provided by the DOJ fluctuate wildly in their accuracy and reliability.