9th Circuit blocks federal bid to pause California noncitizen ballot count
A split panel ruled Friday that segregating 20,000 disputed ballots would disrupt the state’s election system days before voters head to the polls.
By Fatima Saleh ·
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the Justice Department from forcing California to set aside 20,000 ballots on Friday. The federal agency argued that these votes were cast by individuals who are not U.S. citizens. A three-judge panel split 2-1 to deny the request. This decision stands as a major obstacle to the administration’s effort to control state election processes.
The dispute centers on a list of 20,000 names provided by the federal government. Officials in Los Angeles and across the state have already processed hundreds of thousands of ballots. Once processed, these votes are anonymized and cannot be traced back to specific voters. The appeals court noted that there is no feasible method to identify and separate the disputed ballots without causing catastrophic effects on the entire 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 court agreed with the district judge who previously denied the request. That lower court warning stated that the federal demands could disenfranchise actual citizens. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling.
The legal battle has expanded beyond California. In Washington state, a federal judge ordered the administration to share the disputed list with legal teams for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and the UCLA Voting Rights Project. This is the first time a nongovernment organization will examine the list to assess its impact on eligible voters. The groups sued the Homeland Security Department in early October to stop it from using federal immigration data to challenge voter rolls.
Prosecutors in the Trump administration argue that counting noncitizen votes dilutes the voice of citizens. Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, warned that election officials who knowingly process a noncitizen’s ballot open themselves to legal jeopardy. On Thursday, the Associated Press obtained subpoenas for Los Angeles County election officials. These subpoenas seek documents related to federal letters sent in July and October.
At least three county election officials have been asked to appear before a grand jury on November 4. This date falls the day after the midterm election. A coalition of unions, including the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, joined the legal challenge on Friday. They are asking a federal judge to temporarily block the Justice Department from demanding that local officials stop counting ballots.
The lawsuit accuses the department of issuing threats that could interfere with vote processing. It remains unclear whether the Justice Department intends to bring criminal charges against anyone. The department does not typically subpoena people it regards as targets of a criminal investigation to appear before a grand jury.
