Federal Election Dispute: 9th Circuit Court Denies DOJ Ballot Request

A divided panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that California does not need to set aside ballots from approximately 20,000 alleged noncitizen voters in the upcoming midterm election.

The 2-1 decision rejects a request from the Justice Department to pause the counting of these votes until citizenship status is verified. This ruling represents the latest legal setback for the Trump administration in its bid to increase federal oversight of state-run elections before Tuesday's vote.

Judge Mark J. Bennett, appointed by President Donald Trump, and Judge Gabriel P. Sanchez, appointed by former President Joe Biden, wrote the majority opinion. They stated that the district court correctly found no feasible way to identify and separate specific ballots without causing catastrophic effects on the overall election system. California officials argue the federal list of names is unreliable and likely includes many legal citizens.

Election officials noted that hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been processed and anonymized. This means the votes cannot be matched back to the specific individuals who submitted them. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the ruling.

The legal conflict continues in other jurisdictions as well. Earlier on Friday, a federal judge in Washington ordered the administration to share the disputed list of 20,000 names with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and the UCLA Voting Rights Project. These groups sued the Homeland Security Department in early October, arguing that federal immigration data often mistakenly includes citizens and disproportionately targets naturalized voters.

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 or threaten criminal prosecution for noncompliance. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra serves as an adviser to the UCLA Voting Rights Project.

Prosecutors with the Trump administration have warned that election officials who knowingly process a noncitizen's ballot face legal jeopardy. On Thursday, the Associated Press obtained subpoenas issued to Los Angeles County election officials seeking documents related to federal letters sent in July and October. At least three local officials have been asked to appear before a grand jury on Nov. 4, the day after the election.