A federal appeals court on Monday turned away the Trump administration’s emergency bid to force California to set aside more than 20,000 mail ballots. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that it could not hear the appeal yet, because the district court had not been given enough time to rule first.
The Justice Department wanted California to separate ballots linked to voters it says are likely noncitizens, and to check their citizenship before counting them. The panel said the department gave the district court roughly 15 hours, including about three business hours, to act before seeking emergency help.
Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez formed the majority. They wrote that the claimed emergency was, at least in part, self-constructed, pointing to delays in filing suit and in recognising how California law governs ballot processing. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented.
The ruling does not settle the underlying dispute. It sends the case back to the US District Court in California, where a hearing was scheduled for Tuesday. The administration could still pursue its claims there, or seek further emergency review.
California officials have questioned the accuracy of the federal list. Los Angeles election officials said in court papers that most voters in a random sample flagged by the Justice Department appeared to have been born in the United States.
The lawsuit, filed earlier in October, was the first time the administration sought to stop a state from counting votes in this way, according to Reuters. It comes eight days before the November 3 midterm elections, with California’s 52 House seats at stake.
Source: Reuters
