US Appeals Court Questions Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Mail Ballots

A federal appeals court in the United States has closely questioned the Trump administration’s emergency bid to force California to set aside around 20,000 California mail ballots sent to people federal agencies suspect are noncitizens, in a rare Sunday hearing held just nine days before the country’s midterm elections.

The three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard arguments for nearly two hours on Sunday, 25 October, but did not immediately issue a ruling. One judge on the panel said the court would try to rule as quickly as possible, as millions of ballots have already been cast across California.

FAKTA

• What happened: The Ninth Circuit heard the Justice Department’s emergency request on Sunday, 25 October, after a lower court had not yet ruled.
• Ballots at issue: Around 20,000 mail-in ballots sent to people federal agencies flagged as suspected noncitizens.
• What the government wants: California to set those ballots aside while voters’ eligibility is checked, rather than processing them with other votes.
• California’s position: The state says the federal government has no power to intervene in how states run elections unless Congress passes a law, and disputes the reliability of the federal list.
• What happens next: A hearing before US District Judge David Carter is scheduled for Tuesday, 27 October; the appeals panel has promised a quick ruling.
• Election day: The US midterm elections are on 3 November.

Judges press both sides at the hearing

Judge Mark Bennett, appointed by President Donald Trump, questioned whether the injunction the administration seeks could be reconciled with the Constitution’s Elections Clause, which gives state legislatures authority over the times, places and manner of congressional elections, subject to regulation by Congress.

“It seems to me that you want us to issue an injunction that is entirely inconsistent with the law that the California legislature has adopted pursuant to the Elections Clause,” Bennett told Justice Department lawyer Matthew Donnelly, asking: “How can we do that?”

Judge Gabriel Sanchez, appointed by former President Joe Biden, pressed Donnelly on the reliability of the federal government’s list, saying the administration had not explained who the third parties involved in building it were. “Your claims very much depend on the reliability of that list,” Sanchez said.

Judge Patrick Bumatay, also a Trump appointee, focused more on the government’s concerns about possible noncitizen voting and questioned California’s handling of challenges involving suspected ineligible voters.

The panel also questioned whether the Ninth Circuit even has jurisdiction to intervene at this stage, since the district court has yet to rule on the Justice Department’s request.

The California mail ballots at the centre of the case

California is one of six US states that automatically sends a mail-in ballot to every registered voter before an election, and the state began mailing ballots on 5 October. The Justice Department sent California election officials a letter and a password-protected thumb drive on 13 October, giving the state 48 hours to cross-reference the list of names against state voter lists.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said the department had identified voters it believes are likely noncitizens who were sent a vote-by-mail ballot. The Justice Department filed its lawsuit on 15 October against the state, Weber and Dean Logan, the registrar for Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles County officials have said a preliminary review of part of the federal list found apparent discrepancies, including people who were born in the United States or were not registered to vote. California’s deputy attorney general, Samuel Siegel, told the court that voters must certify they are US citizens and meet the other eligibility standards before casting ballots.

Why the timing matters

The Justice Department has argued for urgency, saying hundreds of thousands of California ballots could be tabulated each day while the dispute remains unresolved. More than three million people have already cast ballots statewide, including more than 500,000 in Los Angeles County, according to figures cited during the litigation.

The department sought emergency relief from the appeals court after District Judge Carter did not rule by a deadline it had requested, 22 October. California has argued the appeals court should not intervene before the lower court rules, and in a filing at the weekend said the federal government’s theory would “turn the Constitution on its head”.

“When it comes to rules of elections administration, the federal government has no power to interfere with the States unless Congress passes a law governing the time, place, or manner of elections,” the state contended.

Los Angeles’s top federal prosecutor, Bill Essayli, said after Sunday’s hearing that he was concerned noncitizen votes were already being counted, while California officials maintain the state’s safeguards against noncitizen voting are robust.

What happens next

The district court hearing before Judge Carter is set for Tuesday, 27 October, and the Ninth Circuit panel has said it will try to rule quickly. Whatever the courts decide, the ruling will land in the final days of voting before the 3 November midterms, when control of Congress and a string of state offices are at stake.

For more coverage from the Americas, see Watan News America’s coverage.