A federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration's attempt to stop counting 20,000 California ballots, warning that the effort could jeopardize midterm elections and disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters, marking the administration's third loss on the issue.
A federal appeals court has decisively rejected the Trump administration's latest effort to halt the counting of 20,000 ballots in California, a move judges warned could "jeopardize" midterm elections and disenfranchise eligible voters. This 2-1 decision marks the third consecutive defeat for the administration in its attempts to block ballots from alleged noncitizen voters, with the legal battle expected to reach the Supreme Court just days before Election Day. Both the appeals court and a federal judge in California expressed "major concerns," stating that the administration's actions risk "disenfranchisement of eligible voters," could put the "entire tabulation process in jeopardy," and "wreak havoc" on elections, potentially endangering American democracy. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter emphasized that "eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable" and declined to be a party to a process that could "discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations." The Department of Justice (DOJ) immediately appealed Carter's order and escalated its investigations by issuing federal grand jury subpoenas to local election officials, pursuing unsubstantiated claims of noncitizens on voter rolls. The union representing California election workers subsequently sued the DOJ for "unprecedented and unlawful threats." The administration also pressed Washington state officials to sequester ballots from 400 alleged noncitizens. The appeals court highlighted that the administration's request likely violated the National Voter Registration Act's "quiet period" rule, which prohibits such actions 90 days before an election. Despite this, less than four weeks before Election Day, the Trump administration demanded an investigation into 20,000 alleged noncitizens in Los Angeles within 48 hours. State officials found that a sample review showed many on the list were citizens or had never even voted, and that segregating processed ballots was virtually impossible without catastrophic effects on the system. In a separate case, a federal judge in D.C. ordered the Trump administration to release its disputed list of alleged noncitizen voters to civil rights groups.
