Federal Appeals Court Rejects Move to Remove 20,000 California Ballots
A three-judge panel ruled on Friday that federal intervention would disrupt the state’s election process days before the midterms.
By Jason Kovalenko ·
A federal appeals court on Friday denied the Trump administration’s request to remove approximately 20,000 mail-in ballots from California’s upcoming midterms. The Ninth Circuit panel ruled 2-1 that forcing the state to set aside the votes would cause an extraordinary alteration to the electoral system and infringe on California’s authority to administer its own elections.
The decision blocks a key element of the administration’s push to tighten election scrutiny. In the written order, the judges noted that if the federal government believes different procedures are needed for mail-in voting, it should propose changes to Congress rather than relying on the courts.
The majority also criticized the data presented by the federal government. The judges found that the lists of purported non-citizen voters lacked reliability and contained potential for erroneous matches. Such errors could expose eligible citizen voters to unnecessary review or exclusion from the count.
Judge Mark J. Bennett, appointed by Donald Trump, joined Judge Gabriel P. Sanchez, appointed by Joe Biden, in the majority decision. Judge Patrick J. Bumatay, also a Trump appointee, dissented. In his separate opinion, Bumatay argued that the government’s claims deserved weight, citing federal and state laws that prohibit non-citizens from voting in federal elections.
The case had previously returned this week to District Judge David O. Carter, who ruled in favor of California. Carter warned that the federal demands could cause havoc in election administration and create a chilling effect on workers and voters. The dispute is part of a wider administrative campaign on election integrity, which includes the Department of Justice subpoenaing California county officials and charging 28 individuals with violating federal election laws.
California authorities maintain that the voter records provided by the government contain errors, even though voting without citizenship is illegal in federal contests. Documented cases of such violations remain scarce. The Department of Justice may now appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, though the timing works against it given the approaching election date.
