解讀：川普的非公民選民名單可能如何影響期中選舉

湯姆・哈爾斯（Tom Hals）、楊・沃爾夫（Jan Wolfe）與彼得・艾斯勒（Peter Eisler）報導By Tom Hals, Jan Wolfe and Peter Eisler

11月1日（路透社）—— 美國人將於週二前往投票所參與期中選舉之際，川普政府彙整的可能非公民選民名單，可能被用來質疑選舉結果的有效性。Nov 1 (Reuters) - As Americans head to the polls on Tuesday for midterm elections, lists the Trump administration has compiled of possible noncitizen voters could be used to contest the validity of the results.

在美國總統唐納・川普（Donald Trump）所屬共和黨力拚維持國會控制權之際，以下說明這些名單可能如何影響期中選舉。With US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party fighting to maintain control of Congress, here’s how the lists could affect the midterms.

川普政府對這些名單說了什麼？WHAT HAS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SAID ABOUT THE LISTS?

路透社看到的一份司法部文件顯示，截至10月30日，川普政府已承認向5州選務官員發信，包括加州、華盛頓州、紐澤西州、賓州與內華達州，稱政府在其選民名冊中發現非公民。The Trump administration has acknowledged sending letters to election officials in five states — California, Washington, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Nevada — as of October 30, saying it identified noncitizens on their voter rolls, according to a Justice Department document seen by Reuters.

在10月13日的一封信中，司法部要求加州不要計算約2萬名登記選民的選票，除非先確認他們的公民身分；司法部稱，聯邦機關「有合理理由認為這些人可能是非公民」，並警告處理這些選票的選務人員可能面臨起訴。川普在社群媒體上支持這項警告：「他們全都會坐很久的牢！！！」In an October 13 letter, the Justice Department demanded California not count ballots from about 20,000 registered voters "who federal agencies reasonably believe are likely noncitizens" without first verifying their citizenship, warning that election workers who processed them could face prosecution. Trump endorsed the warning on social media: “They will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!”

州官員拒絕了將名單上人士選票另行擱置的要求；這些名單尚未公開。司法部現在正控告加州，以阻止該州計算這份2萬名選民名單上任何人的選票。加州表示，其防範非公民投票的保障措施十分健全。State officials rebuffed requests to set aside ballots of people on the lists, which have not been made public. The Justice Department is now suing California to block the state from counting any ballots from the list of 20,000 voters. California says its safeguards against noncitizen voting are robust.

非公民投票屬於違法，可能導致入獄、罰款與遭驅逐出境。白宮表示，非公民投票是一項重大問題，需要積極執法以維護選舉完整性。川普長期指稱這種情況普遍存在，但現有證據顯示這極為罕見。路透社7月的一項調查發現，自國會1996年制定聯邦「外國人投票」法規以來，只有129起非公民因非法投票而被聯邦起訴的案件；其中許多案件似乎源於混淆或行政錯誤，而非蓄意舞弊。Noncitizen voting is illegal and can lead to jail time, fines and deportation. The White House says noncitizen voting is a significant problem requiring aggressive enforcement to protect election integrity. Trump has long alleged it is widespread, but available evidence indicates it is exceedingly rare. A Reuters investigation in July found just 129 cases in which noncitizens were federally charged with voting illegally since a federal “voting by aliens” statute was created by Congress in 1996; many appeared to stem from confusion or administrative errors rather than intentional fraud.

司法部此後加強起訴非公民投票案件。司法部發言人基爾斯滕・佩爾斯（Kiersten Pels）在聲明中表示：「勢均力敵的選舉並不罕見，每一張非法選票都會抵銷一名美國公民的選票。」國土安全部長馬克韋恩・穆林（Markwayne Mullin）週六在福斯新聞（Fox News）受訪時，在未提出證據的情況下聲稱，他的部門在選民名冊中發現30萬名非公民。The Justice Department has since ramped up noncitizens voting prosecutions. “Close elections are not rare, and every illegal ballot cancels out the vote of an American citizen,” a Justice Department spokesperson, Kiersten Pels, said in a statement. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed without evidence in a Fox News interview on Saturday that his agency had found 300,000 noncitizens on the voter rolls.

川普政府如何彙整這些名單？HOW DID THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION COMPILE THE LISTS?

聯邦政府沒有一份集中式名單，列出已登記投票或符合投票資格的美國公民。但川普政府積極向各州索取選民資料，以擴大其在判定選民資格方面的角色。The federal government has no centralized list of US citizens who are registered or eligible to vote. But the Trump administration has aggressively sought state voter data to expand its role in determining voter eligibility.

各州對聯邦選舉擁有憲法授權，許多州會公開選民名冊，但會遮蔽駕照號碼、社會安全號碼末4碼等私人資訊。States have constitutional authority over federal elections and many states make voter rolls public with private information, such as driver’s license numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers, redacted.

政府一直尋求取得未遮蔽的名冊，以識別所稱的非公民。至少16州已自願配合，包括阿拉巴馬州與德州。包括加州、紐約州在內的30州，以及華盛頓特區，則未配合，並因選民名冊問題遭政府提告。到目前為止，法院已駁回其中27項行動，許多法官認定聯邦政府在判定選民資格上並無角色。The administration has sought unredacted rolls to identify alleged noncitizens. At least 16 states, including Alabama and Texas, have complied voluntarily. Thirty states, including California and New York, as well as Washington, D.C., have not complied and have been sued by the administration for their voter rolls. Courts have rejected 27 of those efforts so far, with many judges finding the federal government has no role in determining voter eligibility.

司法部已就許多敗訴案件提出上訴。該部發言人佩爾斯表示：「選民有權擁有準確的選民名冊，各州不應對聯邦審查隱匿這些名冊。」The Justice Department has appealed many of those losses. “Voters have a right to accurate voter rolls, and states shouldn’t be hiding them from federal review,” said Pels, the department’s spokesperson.

路透社查閱到一封近期的國土安全部內部電子郵件顯示，國土安全部已從至少47州取得至少部分選民名冊資料，通常包括姓名、地址與登記狀態，有些情況下還包含出生日期等額外資訊。該電子郵件顯示，聯邦調查人員隨後將選民資料與政府資料庫比對，以識別潛在非公民。The Department of Homeland Security obtained at least partial voter-roll data from at least 47 states, typically including names, addresses and registration status and, in some cases, additional information such as dates of birth, according to a recent internal DHS email reviewed by Reuters. Federal investigators then matched the voter data against government databases to identify potential noncitizens, the email shows.

國土安全部未回應採訪請求。該部曾表示，其調查以專業且合法的方式進行，以維護選舉完整性。DHS did not respond to a request for comment. It has said its investigations are conducted professionally and lawfully to safeguard election integrity.

這些名單會影響期中選舉嗎？WILL THE LISTS IMPACT THE MIDTERMS?

即使政府難以在法院勝訴，這些名單仍可能成為挑戰接近選舉結果的依據。3名法律專家告訴路透社，依多數州法律，只有候選人或選民可以挑戰選舉結果，但落選候選人可能主張，疑似非公民選票使得無法判定正當勝選者。而司法部也可能採取其他法律途徑，試圖阻止勝選者認證。司法部表示，只要證據所指之處，就會執行法律。The lists could provide a basis for challenging close election results, even if the administration struggles to prevail in court. Under most state laws, only candidates or voters can challenge election results, but a losing candidate could argue that suspected noncitizen votes made it impossible to determine the rightful winner, three legal experts told Reuters. And the Justice Department could pursue other legal avenues to try to block certification of victors. The Justice Department has said it will enforce the law wherever the evidence leads.

這類挑戰將面臨重大法律障礙，部分原因是外界審視政府的潛在非公民選民名單後發現，名單上許多人其實是美國公民。Such challenges would face significant legal hurdles, partly because reviews of the administration’s lists of potential noncitizen voters have found that many people on the lists are US citizens.

10月28日，加州一名聯邦法官駁回司法部請求，不准其阻止2萬名被該部認定可能是非公民的選民所投選票；法官表示，此舉將對11月3日選舉「造成嚴重混亂」，並質疑名單的可靠性。10月30日，聯邦上訴法院維持該裁定，理由是有剝奪合格選民投票權的「實質風險」。On October 28, a federal judge in California rejected the Justice Department's bid to block ballots from 20,000 voters it identified as likely noncitizens, saying the move would "wreak havoc" on the November 3 elections and questioning the reliability of the list. A federal appeals court upheld the ruling on October 30, citing a “material risk” of disenfranchising eligible voters.

美國代理副司法部長川特・麥考特（Trent McCotter）週六在福斯新聞表示，司法部「可能」會上訴至美國最高法院。他已承認，加州名單可能包括美國公民。The Justice Department would “probably” appeal to the US Supreme Court, acting US Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said on Fox News on Saturday. He has acknowledged the California list could include US citizens.

這些名單及其引發的挑戰，可能使民主黨以些微差距勝選的結果蒙上疑雲，並促使與川普結盟的州官員尋求進一步審查，或試圖延後認證；不過法律專家表示，這類行動將面臨艱鉅障礙。政府表示，其行動旨在識別並起訴非法投票，並維護選舉完整性。The lists and resulting challenges could cast doubt on narrow Democratic victories and prompt Trump-aligned state officials to seek further review or try to delay certification, though such efforts would face formidable obstacles, the legal experts said. The administration says its efforts are aimed at identifying and prosecuting illegal voting and protecting election integrity.

（麥克・史佩克特、呂克・柯恩與內德・帕克補充報導。諾琳・沃爾德與傑森・塞普編輯）(Additional reporting by Mike Spector, Luc Cohen and Ned Parker. Editing by Noeleen Walder and Jason Szep )