A federal judge has refused the Justice Department’s request to force California to set aside mail ballots tied to about 20,000 people the department calls likely noncitizens. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter issued the ruling on October 28, days before the November 3 midterm election.
Carter said granting the request would, in his words, “wreak havoc and disrupt the election” already underway. He wrote that it would create a chilling effect on election workers and voters, and discount the votes of United States citizens.
The department wanted California and Los Angeles County to hold the flagged ballots uncounted until officials could verify the voters’ citizenship. Carter found the government had not shown it was likely to succeed, and questioned whether federal law gives it authority to override California’s ballot procedures.
The Justice Department filed an appeal the same day, according to a statement from First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. The appeal goes to the Ninth Circuit, which had already rejected an earlier department request in the case as premature.
The dispute began when the department sued California and Los Angeles County on October 15, after state officials declined a 48-hour deadline to review a list of voters the federal government described as likely noncitizens. California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the ruling an important victory for the right to vote.
Source: USA Today
