California mail ballots will not be segregated over citizenship claims, judge rules

A federal judge has rejected an effort by the Trump administration to force California election officials to isolate roughly 20,000 mail ballots cast by individuals federal officials suspected of being noncitizens.

U.S. District Judge David Carter ruled against the administration, emphasizing that states hold primary constitutional authority over how elections are managed. Granting the federal government's late request would open the door for political actors to incite turmoil and interfere with voting, Carter explained in his ruling.

The Justice Department initiated legal action on Oct. 15, asking the court to instruct the state to separate and halt counting on absentee ballots belonging to people on a federally assembled list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens until their status could be validated.

Carter emphasized that intervening mid-election would severely disrupt ongoing voting procedures, intimidate administrators and voters, and potentially silence lawful American citizens. He noted that the federal government retains standard law enforcement authority to prosecute illegal voting rather than upending election administration, pointing out that prosecutors had already secured 28 indictments in recent matters. He told government attorneys that their remedy was to indict individuals if crimes occurred.

California authorities forcefully opposed the federal demands during a court hearing. State attorney Christina McCall labeled the claims unreliable and unsupported, asking where the government had produced actual proof. State officials pointed out that the federal government previously cited a figure of 190,000 suspected names in July before shifting its claims, all while declining to show how it compiled the roster. Another attorney representing California, Anne Bellows, argued that compelling the state into an improvised investigation without standards on the eve of voting was an open path toward voter disenfranchisement.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli contended during the hearing that federal authorities were simply trying to stop the state from doing nothing when notified of potential noncitizens on registration logs.

The ruling comes after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also declined to intervene on an emergency basis. A split three-judge panel decided against the federal government, concluding that the urgent timeline was largely manufactured by the administration's own failure to bring the lawsuit earlier. Circuit Judge Mark Bennett observed that federal authorities had raised issues with California's voting logs since mid-July, making the last-minute legal push unnecessary. Circuit Judge Gabriel Sanchez added that the administration was improperly seeking to overturn established state procedures, while dissenting Judge Patrick Bumatay argued federal statutes barred mixing potentially unlawful ballots with eligible votes.

Carter also noted that California already possesses official administrative channels for removing individuals from voter lists whenever ineligibility is legally established.