Judge stops DOJ from pausing California mail ballot processing

A federal judge denied a request from the Trump administration to pause the counting of mail ballots in California for 20,000 voters the Justice Department suspects are noncitizens. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter issued the ruling on Wednesday, October 28, keeping the election process moving less than a week before the general election.

The Justice Department argued that California had failed to meet a 48-hour deadline to verify the citizenship status of the names on a list provided in mid-October. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli stated that the department would file an emergency appeal with the Ninth Circuit. He noted that every day more ballots are processed, which he described as an ongoing emergency that dilutes the votes of American citizens.

Carter wrote that approving the restraining order would disrupt the election and create a chilling effect on election workers and voters. He stated that eroded trust in democracy is irreparable and that once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred. The judge also noted that the executive branch threatening an ongoing election based on unproven allegations puts the democracy in danger.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the decision a victory for the rule of law and the right to vote. However, Bonta added that the fight is not over and that the state will continue to seek dismissal of the lawsuit. The state’s legal team argued that the federal government used unreliable data. They pointed out that the number of alleged noncitizens dropped from 190,000 in July to 20,000 in October.

L.A. County Registrar Dean Logan said his office reviewed a sample of 200 names from the 20,930 records the DOJ submitted for the county. Logan reported that about 43 percent of those sample individuals had canceled their voter registrations and more than 70 percent had no voting history. He said the data supports the need for verifiable evidence rather than assumptions when claims of unlawful voting are made.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Carter questioned the need for an emergency order, noting that results are not certified until December. He told members of the Trump administration that threats against election workers should end immediately. Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee on the Ninth Circuit, had earlier cast doubt on the request, stating that federal law does not tell California how to sort citizens from noncitizens.

The case now moves to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A panel of judges there had previously declined to rule on the matter before Carter’s decision was issued. The federal government had requested a rare weekend session to get a decision earlier than the scheduled hearing before Carter.