9th Circuit Blocks DOJ Bid to Freeze 20,000 California Ballots
A federal appeals panel ruled Friday that separating disputed ballots before Tuesday's election would disrupt the state's entire voting process.
By Bianca Herrera ·
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 decision on Friday rejecting the Justice Department's request to have California set aside approximately 20,000 ballots. The panel ruled that the state should not suspend the counting of these votes until citizenship is verified. This decision halts the federal government's immediate push to intervene in the state's midterm election processing.
The Justice Department argues that California sent ballots to individuals who may not be U.S. citizens. Federal prosecutors contend that counting these votes dilutes the voice of eligible citizens. They have warned that election officials who knowingly process such ballots face legal jeopardy. The administration seeks to prevent these votes from being tallied until the status of the voters is confirmed.
California officials dispute the reliability of the federal list. They argue that the data likely includes many valid U.S. citizens. A district court judge previously denied the same request, noting that the federal demands could disenfranchise eligible voters. The appeals court agreed with the lower court's assessment. The panel wrote that there is no feasible way to identify and segregate specific ballots without catastrophic effects on the entire system.
The ruling comes with millions of Californians having already voted in Tuesday's midterms. Elections officials state that hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been processed. Once processed, these votes are completely anonymized. This makes it impossible to match them back to the specific voters who submitted them, complicating any attempt to remove them from the count.
The majority opinion was authored by Judge Mark J. Bennett, appointed by President Trump, and joined by Judge Gabriel P. Sanchez, appointed by former President Joe Biden. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling. The decision is the latest legal setback for the Trump administration's efforts to assert control over state-run elections.
In a related development, a federal judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration to share the disputed list of names with lawyers for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and the UCLA Voting Rights Project. This will be the first time a nongovernment organization can evaluate the merits of the list. The groups sued the Department of Homeland Security in early October to stop it from using federal immigration data to challenge voter rolls. They argue the data-matching methods risk disenfranchising citizens, particularly naturalized citizens.
A coalition of unions, including the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, filed a motion on Friday. They are asking a federal judge to temporarily block the Justice Department from demanding that local officials stop counting ballots. The unions also seek to drop threats to criminally prosecute officials who do not comply. On Thursday, the Associated Press obtained subpoenas issued to Los Angeles County election officials. At least three officials have been asked to appear before a grand jury on November 4, the day after the election. It remains unclear if the Justice Department intends to bring criminal charges.
