Judge rejects DOJ bid to pause California ballots

Federal courts in California will continue processing mail ballots for the midterm elections after a judge denied an emergency request from the Department of Justice. The ruling stops a federal effort to pause the counting of votes for 20,000 individuals whom officials believe are likely noncitizens.

U.S. District Judge David Carter issued the decision on Wednesday evening. His 26-page order rejected the DOJ’s request for a temporary restraining order. Carter, a Clinton appointee, argued that the federal government has never previously sought to force a state to abandon its election procedures on the eve of a vote. He warned that segregating votes could cause lasting harm to eligible voters if the government’s claims proved unproven.

The Justice Department filed its lawsuit on Oct. 15. Officials argued that the situation is urgent because mail ballot envelopes are separated from the ballots to protect voter privacy once signatures are verified. This process makes it difficult to retrieve an ineligible ballot later. Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, stated that every day of processing dilutes the vote of citizens. He announced that the DOJ will seek an emergency order from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

California officials have disputed the accuracy of the DOJ’s list. Los Angeles County conducted a preliminary analysis and found that many individuals on the list do not have active voter registrations. State Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, asked the court to consider the timing of the suit. He called the litigation a precursor to further interference. Bonta said in a statement that the ruling is a victory, but the state will continue fighting to dismiss the baseless lawsuit.

The dispute over the list’s reliability centers on conflicting data. A sample from Los Angeles County showed that a portion of the listed individuals were born in the U.S. Nicolas Bartell, a senior official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, countered that his office found none of those specific individuals were U.S.-born. He acknowledged that four people might have a claim to citizenship. Kassra Oskooi, a political scientist at the University of Delaware, provided a declaration to the court stating that the USCIS matching protocol is likely unreliable.

Carter’s order noted that the federal government’s protocol raises concerns about its credibility. The judge said the government could address the issue by continuing to indict individuals for illegally voting. DOJ officials said they have charged dozens of people in the last two months for registering or voting without being citizens. The judge also noted that the federal government has taken similar actions in other states. On Monday, prosecutors asked Washington state officials to review a list of 400 registered voters. Last week, the DOJ filed a lawsuit in Alaska seeking to stop the certification of Senate race results if the Republican incumbent loses due to a similar name on the ballot.

Jonathan Miller, chief program officer at Public Rights Project, said the district court found the DOJ’s claims unsubstantiated. He stated that the administration undermines election integrity systems while claiming to protect them. The DOJ has filed a notice of appeal, and the case could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court.