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A federal judge in California has rejected the Trump administration’s request to separate approximately 20,000 mail-in ballots from individuals the government claims are noncitizens. U.S. District Judge David Carter ruled on Wednesday that granting the request would undermine constitutional principles and disrupt an election already underway.
Judge Cites Constitutional Concerns
In his ruling, Carter wrote that the administration’s request “violates longstanding constitutional principles mandating that states have control over their elections.” He warned that granting such last-minute relief could allow either political party to create chaos and disrupt the voting process. He also said the move would discourage election workers and voters and risk canceling out the votes of legitimate U.S. citizens.
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Carter also questioned the reliability of the government’s data. He pointed to a similar situation in Nevada, where the Department of Homeland Security initially flagged up to 15,903 registered voters as noncitizens. That number later dropped to 6,218, then to just 185 after a manual review. Nevada officials subsequently confirmed that all 185 individuals were, in fact, citizens.
“Had Nevada officials accepted Plaintiff’s allegations there as true, 185 citizens would have been deprived of their vote,” Carter wrote. He added that he would not strip Californians of their fundamental right to vote based on what he called “unfounded allegations.”
DOJ Lawsuit and State Response
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit on October 15. It sought a court order requiring California to set aside mail-in ballots from people the federal government identified as likely noncitizens. Officials said they had compiled a list of more than 20,000 names.
California attorneys pushed back strongly. Attorney Christina McCall challenged the government’s evidence at a hearing Tuesday, calling the allegations “vague” and “not reliable.” Another state attorney, Anne Bellows, argued the government was pressuring California to launch an unclear investigation into tens of thousands of voters without defined standards, just before an election. She called it “a recipe for disenfranchisement.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli defended the federal position. He told the judge that once the state knows about potential noncitizen voters, “they need to do something.” He argued California could not simply ignore the issue and continue counting ballots.
Carter, however, suggested the government already had tools available. He pointed out that prosecutors had recently brought 28 indictments against people found to have voted illegally in California. “You’ve got a remedy, for goodness’ sakes,” Carter told Essayli. “Go out and indict.”
Appeal Filed After Ruling
Essayli criticized the ruling shortly after it came down. He announced that the Solicitor General had authorized an immediate appeal to the Ninth Circuit. “Every day, more ballots are processed by election officials,” he said. “This ongoing emergency disenfranchises American citizens through dilution.”
This is not the first time the case has reached an appeals court. The Justice Department previously asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to expedite the matter after Carter did not rule by a requested deadline. The appeals court held an emergency hearing on Sunday and ruled against the administration 2-1 on Monday.
The majority found it lacked jurisdiction because Carter had not yet ruled. However, the panel also noted the government’s claimed emergency was at least partly “self-constructed,” pointing out that the U.S. had been aware of concerns about California’s voter rolls since at least July 16. Circuit Judge Gabriel Sanchez added in a concurring opinion that the government was asking courts to override matters firmly within a state’s traditional authority. The lone dissenting judge, Trump appointee Patrick Bumatay, argued federal law prevents California from mixing ballots likely cast by noncitizens with legitimate ones.
