Judge rejects DOJ bid to pause processing of 20,000 California ballots

U.S. District Judge David Carter denied the Department of Justice an emergency request on Wednesday to stop the processing of 20,000 California ballots. The ruling comes as state and local officials prepare for the midterm elections. Carter, a Clinton appointee, issued a 26-page order rejecting the temporary restraining order. He found that the federal government had not demonstrated sufficient urgency to halt current election procedures.

The Justice Department filed its lawsuit in California on October 15. The suit asks election officials to set aside ballots associated with 20,000 people whom federal officials identify as likely noncitizens. DOJ representatives argue that the situation is urgent because ballots are already being processed. They contend that once mail ballot envelopes are separated for signature verification and voter confidentiality, it becomes impossible to retrieve an ineligible ballot.

California officials dispute the reliability of the federal list. A preliminary analysis by Los Angeles County indicated that many individuals on the list do not hold active voter registrations. State Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, urged the court to consider the timing of the demand. Bonta wrote that the litigation serves as a precursor to further interference. He warned that the court must not be drawn into a chilling degradation of democratic values.

Carter expressed concern that segregating votes so close to Election Day would cause chaos and disenfranchise eligible voters. He noted that once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred. Carter wrote that if the executive branch can discount votes based on unproven allegations, the democracy is in danger. He stated that the court declines to be a party to such a process.

The judge indicated that the federal government can address the issue through criminal indictments. DOJ officials said they have charged dozens of people in the last two months for registering or voting without being U.S. citizens. Carter suggested this legal avenue allows the government to handle the matter without disrupting the current election cycle.

The California case is part of a series of actions by the Justice Department in states approaching Election Day. On Monday, federal prosecutors asked Washington state officials to review a list of 400 registered voters believed to be likely noncitizens. Last week, the DOJ filed a lawsuit in Alaska seeking to stop the state from certifying results in its Senate race if the Republican incumbent loses to a similar-named candidate accused of being a spoiler.

The accuracy of the DOJ list remains a point of contention. A Los Angeles County analysis of a small sample found that a portion of the listed individuals had records stating they were born in the U.S. Nicolas Bartell, a senior official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, countered in court filings that his office found none were U.S.-born. Bartell acknowledged that four individuals might have a claim to citizenship. Kassra Oskooi, a political scientist at the University of Delaware serving as an expert witness for voting rights groups, wrote that he believes the USCIS matching protocol is likely to be unreliable.

The Department of Justice is expected to appeal Carter's decision. The matter could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court if lower courts remain divided on the scope of federal authority in state election procedures.