Federal Push to Segregate California Ballots Rejected

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter rejected a Trump administration request Wednesday to set aside ballots from as many as 20,000 people alleged to be likely noncitizens, warning that separating them would “wreak havoc” on California’s midterm elections. More than 3.7 million people had already voted. The Justice Department said it would immediately appeal.

Carter said the federal government’s demand could discount votes based on unproven allegations while the election was underway. “Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable. Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred,” he wrote. “If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger. This Court declines to be a party to such process.”

A demand aimed at ballots already in motion

The Republican administration sued California election officials in mid-October, alleging they failed to meet a 48-hour deadline to review a list of 20,000 people it said were likely noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls. It asked Carter to delay counting those voters’ ballots until officials could verify their immigration status.

California mails ballots to all 23 million registered voters. Court filings showed that officials had processed more than 500,000 ballots by that week: they had verified the envelopes and removed the ballots. Los Angeles County officials testified that after that process, it would be virtually impossible to determine which ballot belonged to a particular voter.

Carter said separating ballots at that stage would force counties to develop new sorting methods and “risk disenfranchising an untold number of voters.” He wrote that the demand would have the same effect as purging voters and would violate the National Voting Rights Act, which prohibits changes to voter rolls within 90 days of an election. The request, he said, “would wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway, create a chilling effect on election workers and voters alike, and discount the votes of United States citizens.”

Federal control, county-level consequences

Carter rejected the Justice Department’s argument that California was impeding federal law enforcement. Prosecutors, he said, had already shown they could enforce election law by arresting 28 noncitizens who allegedly voted or registered to vote illegally.

The ruling blocks the requested ballot segregation for now, but the administration’s legal campaign continues. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied an earlier appeal because it preempted the district court’s decision. Two of the three appeals judges also expressed overwhelming skepticism about the lawsuit’s merits. The Justice Department said it would file a second appeal Wednesday evening.

Carter had previously said in court that he was inclined to appoint a special master to vet the government’s data processes. His Wednesday order appeared to reverse course, and he didn’t appoint one.

The wider fight over election power

The Justice Department made a similar request in Washington state this week, asking the state to sequester ballots submitted by hundreds of people it suspects are not U.S. citizens. A separate lawsuit filed in Alaska last week seeks to delay certification of the vote if the Republican incumbent running for U.S. Senate doesn’t win. All three states have House or Senate races that will help determine the balance of power in Congress.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the ruling “confirmed what we already know: states, not the federal government, run elections.” He said the Justice Department’s demands so close to Election Day seemed “designed to cause chaos.” Jon Miller, the Chief Program Officer for the Public Rights Project, a progressive civil rights organization representing Los Angeles County officials, called the ruling a “major victory for voters” and said the organization remained prepared for further challenges.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli reiterated the government’s argument after the ruling. “Every day, more ballots are processed by election officials,” he wrote on social media, describing the situation as an “ongoing emergency” that “disenfranchises American citizens through dilution.” Essayli said segregation was “designed to preserve the status quo and prevent the infection of our election with illegal ballots.” The administration’s request to control how California handles ballots now faces another appeal, while counties and voters bear the consequences of the fight.