DOJ seeks Supreme Court order to pause California ballot processing
The Justice Department asked the high court Monday to intervene in its dispute with California over 20,000 potential noncitizen voters, one day before Election Day.
By Meera Fletcher ·
The Department of Justice filed a notice on Monday seeking emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court. The department wants the high court to order California to stop processing the ballots of approximately 20,000 voters it identifies as likely noncitizens. The request arrived the day before Election Day.
This appeal follows a series of rulings by lower courts that favored California. Federal Judge David Carter, a Clinton appointee, described the department's actions last week as a broad, ongoing pattern of attempted election interference by federal officials. A divided panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the DOJ's request on Friday to set aside these ballots.
The 9th Circuit decision was split. Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez, both Trump and Biden appointees respectively, wrote that there is a material risk that granting relief would result in disenfranchisement and jeopardize the county's entire election. They cited the Purcell principle, which advises against changing election rules on the eve of a vote, and the National Voter Registration Act. That law prevents states from systematically removing ineligible voters within 90 days of a federal election. Judge Patrick Bumatay, a Trump appointee, dissented.
The dispute centers on a federal list of 20,000 names. The DOJ argues these individuals are likely noncitizens whose ballots should not be counted until citizenship is verified. California and Los Angeles County officials contend the list is unreliable and that creating a new system to segregate ballots while voting is underway is infeasible. They note that the actual number of disputed ballots is likely much smaller because many names on the list did not have active registrations or receive mail ballots.
Data scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles Voting Rights Project gained access to the DOJ list over the weekend through a court order in a separate lawsuit. Their analysis found that 42% of the names do not appear on California's current voter roll. The study also identified naturalized citizens on the list.
The Supreme Court appeal is the latest step in an escalating conflict between the federal government and California election officials. In recent weeks, the DOJ issued subpoenas to state officials and warned of criminal prosecution for allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots. A federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order late Friday. That order bars the administration from threatening or coercing officials to stop processing ballots from registered voters. The federal government has appealed that order as well.
