9th Circuit: 20,000 California Ballots Countable in Midterms

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Trump administration’s request to sequester approximately 20,000 mail-in ballots in California. The decision, issued on Monday, allows the state to proceed with counting these votes ahead of the November 3 midterm election. The government had asked for an expedited review, arguing that the ballots were sent to individuals likely to be non-citizens.

The court ruled 2-1 that the administration did not provide lower courts with sufficient time to examine the case. Judge Gabriel Sanchez wrote for the majority that the federal government was attempting to direct state election administration, a duty traditionally reserved for state legislatures under the US Constitution. He warned that stopping the tabulation would create disorder and confusion for voters and election officials.

The administration filed its lawsuit against California on October 15. This occurred less than three weeks before the midterm vote. The government has not publicly disclosed the methodology used to create the list of 20,000 voters or determine their ineligibility. A hearing in the lower court is scheduled for Tuesday.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s legal team described the lawsuit as a political move in a court filing on October 20. They stated that the litigation threatened to disenfranchise thousands of Californians. The administration has previously claimed that California is prone to election cheating, a position critics have called unfounded.

The Department of Justice has sued 30 states and Washington, DC, seeking full access to voter rolls. It argues this access is necessary to prevent voter fraud. The department has lost 26 of these cases so far. Opponents in those cases argued that releasing sensitive personal data could intimidate voters and disrupt state election processes.

Experts note that non-citizens are barred from voting in federal elections in all 50 states. A July investigation by Reuters found only 129 cases of non-citizens charged with illegal voting by federal authorities since 1996. Many of those cases involved administrative errors rather than fraudulent intent.

Voting rights advocates have identified flaws in how the administration identifies potential non-citizen voters. They warn that eligible voters may be disenfranchised during the process. Immigration agents have been assigned to investigate non-citizen voting, sometimes visiting homes to check residency and citizenship status.

Last week, the administration charged 28 immigrants in California with illegally voting. Reporting from the Los Angeles Times indicated that some accused individuals were confused by the charges and maintained they had never registered to vote. The midterm elections will determine which party controls Congress, with current Republican majorities in both chambers at risk of flipping.