Judge blocks federal move to hold 20,000 California ballots
District Court Judge David Carter ruled that segregating ballots would disrupt the election, with 3.7 million votes already cast in the state.
By Layla Fontaine ·
A federal judge in Los Angeles ruled on Wednesday that California must continue counting ballots from up to 20,000 voters, rejecting a Trump administration demand to segregate those votes over concerns about noncitizenship.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter warned that the move would "wreak havoc" on the midterm elections. At the time of the ruling, more than 3.7 million people had already voted in the state. The Justice Department immediately announced it would appeal the decision.
The legal conflict began in mid-October when the administration sued California election officials. The suit accused the state of missing a 48-hour deadline to review a list of 20,000 individuals alleged to be noncitizens on the voter rolls. The federal government asked the court to pause the counting of those specific ballots until immigration status could be verified.
Carter, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, found that the request violated the National Voting Rights Act. The law prohibits changes to voter rolls within 90 days of an election. Carter argued that forcing counties to sort ballots at this late stage would create the same effect as purging voters. He noted that counties would need to develop new sorting methods, which risked disenfranchising an unknown number of voters.
The court highlighted logistical difficulties in the state's mail-in voting system. California sends ballots to all 23 million registered voters. Filings show that roughly 500,000 ballots had already been processed by that week. Once envelopes are verified and removed, officials in Los Angeles County testified it becomes virtually impossible to match a specific ballot to a specific voter.
The ruling represents another setback for the administration's push to expand federal control over state-run elections. Similar lawsuits are active in Washington and Alaska. In Washington, prosecutors sought to sequester ballots from hundreds of suspected noncitizens. In Alaska, a suit aims to delay vote certification if the Republican Senate incumbent loses. All three states have races that will determine the balance of power in Congress.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli defended the lawsuit on social media following the ruling. He argued that the ongoing situation disenfranchises citizens through dilution. "Segregating a ballot does not prevent it from being counted later," Essayli said. "It is designed to preserve the status quo and prevent the infection of our election with illegal ballots."
The Justice Department is filing its second appeal in the case. The first appeal was denied by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which preempted the district court's decision. Two of the three judges on that panel expressed skepticism about the merits of the lawsuit. David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the district court's ruling confirmed that states, not the federal government, run elections.
