The Latest: California official rejects lawsuit claims

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Latest on a GOP attorney's lawsuit against California for alleged voter violations (all times local):

2:10 p.m.

California's Secretary of State Alex Padilla has dismissed claims made in a lawsuit filed by a Republican attorney alleging that he is failing to verify the citizenship of potential voters.

Attorney Harmeet Dhillon, a member of the National Republican party, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the state of California that accuses Padilla of violating the National Voter Registration Act.

Padilla responded in a statement saying the lawsuit "is a fundamental misrepresentation" of the act. He called the lawsuit an "underhanded attempt" at voter suppression.

Dhillon filed the lawsuit on behalf of three California residents who are Republican voters. The lawsuit also names the director of California's Department of Motor Vehicles, Steve Gordon.

Dhillon said that a recent audit that found a variety of problems with California DMV's "motor voter" program, which automatically registers people to vote, helped bring the issues in her lawsuit to light.

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11:10 a.m.

A Republican lawyer who has waged lawsuits on behalf of the Trump administration is suing California and the state DMV, saying the agency is failing to verify whether non-citizens are being registered to vote.

A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by attorney Harmeet Dhillon comes after a state audit found the California DMV's "motor voter" program that started in 2018 was riddled with technical problems that led to discrepancies in voter registrations.

The lawsuit alleges that California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and the director of California's DMV, Steve Gordon, have violated the National Voter Registration Act and that Padilla has "forsaken his duty to ensure that non-citizens" are kept off voter rolls.

Dhillon, a Republican National Committee member, filed the lawsuit on behalf of three California residents, all Republican voters.