Judge halts federal effort to set aside California mail ballots

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter blocked a federal effort to freeze the counting of tens of thousands of mail ballots in California less than a week before Election Day. The ruling, issued on Wednesday, October 28, denied the Department of Justice’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have forced state and local officials to set aside the ballots of voters the administration suspects are not citizens.

The Justice Department claims there are 20,000 likely noncitizens on California’s voter rolls who are ineligible to vote. In mid-October, federal officials sent a letter to Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan and the state’s Secretary of State, Shirley Weber, demanding a 48-hour review of a list of 20,930 names. When state officials did not meet that deadline, the federal government sued, seeking to stop the processing of those specific ballots until citizenship could be confirmed.

Carter argued that approving the request would disrupt an election already in progress. He wrote that the move would create a chilling effect on election workers and voters and discount the votes of U.S. citizens. According to the judge, eroded trust in the democracy is irreparable harm that occurs the moment a vote is segregated. He noted that the executive branch should not be able to threaten an ongoing election based on unproven allegations.

The state’s legal team challenged the reliability of the federal data. Attorney Michael Cohen stated that the administration used data known to be unreliable to compile the list. He pointed out that in July, the federal government alleged there were more than 190,000 potential noncitizens on the rolls, a figure that dropped to 20,000 by October. Anne Bellows, another attorney for the state, argued that segregating the ballots would strip voting rights from thousands of people until their innocence is proven.

Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan provided data suggesting many of the flagged voters had already resolved their status. Of the 20,930 records submitted by the Department of Justice, 7,035 had Los Angeles County addresses. In a sample pool of 200 names, Logan reported that about 43% of the individuals had canceled their voter registrations and more than 70% had no voting history. He said claims of unlawful voting must be supported by verifiable evidence rather than assumptions.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, who argued the federal case, said the Justice Department will seek an emergency appeal to the Ninth Circuit. He characterized the request as narrow, aiming only to pause the counting of ballots for suspected noncitizens rather than voiding them. Essayli stated that the government is enforcing federal laws that prohibit noncitizens from voting. He noted that he expects the Supreme Court to eventually decide on his own legal standing, which was ruled illegal in a separate case on Tuesday.

Judge Carter also addressed the atmosphere surrounding the litigation. He urged that threats against state and county employees cease immediately. In recent weeks, federal prosecutors implied that election workers who process ballots flagged for potential noncitizen status could face criminal liability. Carter exited the courtroom Tuesday after saying it would be wise for these threats to stop.

As of Tuesday, more than 4 million mail ballots had been returned to election offices statewide. Los Angeles County alone had received more than 767,000. The case now moves to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where a panel recently declined to rule after holding a rare weekend session to hear arguments.