New Delhi, Oct. 15 -- A thumb drive that the Justice Department says holds the names of noncitizens who were mailed California ballots is sitting unopened in Los Angeles County, and the department wants those ballots set aside by noon Thursday.

not cancel" their vote-by-mail ballots. Where no ballot has yet gone out, McCotter wrote, officials should "take all immediate and reasonable steps" not to send one.

The ballots are already out. California began mailing them on October 5 to every registered voter, and Election Day is less than three weeks away. A Justice Department spokesperson said the request is not controversial because "only American citizens may vote in federal elections" and that the department is asking California to seque...