Ninth Circuit rejects DOJ ballot request

A federal appeals court in Los Angeles ruled on Friday that the U.S. Justice Department cannot force California to set aside specific ballots from the midterm election. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 decision that rejects the administration's demand to exclude votes from approximately 20,000 individuals allegedly sent ballots despite potential noncitizen status.

The legal conflict began when the Justice Department argued that California mailed ballots to people who may not be U.S. citizens. The federal government wanted the state to remove those ballots from the count until citizenship was verified. California officials countered that the federal list is unreliable and likely includes many legal citizens.

A district court judge had already denied the request, warning that the Justice Department's demands risked disenfranchising eligible voters. The appeals court agreed with the lower court, writing that there is no feasible way to identify and segregate specific ballots without causing catastrophic effects on the entire voting system.

Judge Mark J. Bennett, appointed by President Donald Trump, and Judge Gabriel P. Sanchez, appointed by former President Joe Biden, authored the majority opinion. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling.

The decision arrives just before Election Day on Tuesday, with millions of California residents already having voted. Elections officials note that hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been processed. Once processed, these votes are anonymized and cannot be matched back to the specific voters who submitted them.

The ruling is part of a wider legal battle between the federal government and state election officials. In Washington state, a federal judge ordered the administration to share the disputed list of names with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and the UCLA Voting Rights Project. These groups want to examine the list to assess its impact on eligible voters. This will be the first time a nongovernment organization evaluates the list of about 20,000 names.

In Los Angeles County, the Associated Press obtained subpoenas issued on Thursday to local election officials. The subpoenas request documents and communications related to letters sent in July and October by federal officials. At least three Los Angeles County election officials have been asked to appear before a grand jury on November 4, the day after the election. Top federal prosecutor Bill Essayli warned that any election official who knowingly processes a noncitizen's ballot is opening themselves to legal jeopardy.