Federal judge rejects Justice Department bid to make California set aside mail ballots from roughly 20,000 voters

What happened

A federal judge on Wednesday turned down the Trump administration's request to require California election officials to separate mail ballots from roughly 20,000 people the government says are not U.S. citizens, CBS News reported. U.S. District Judge David Carter, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, issued the ruling in a 26-page decision. CBS News described it as the latest setback for the administration's efforts to exert more federal control over election administration ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Carter wrote that the request violates "longstanding constitutional principles" that give states the authority to run their own elections. "But California and its people are sovereign, too," he wrote, according to CBS News.

What the judge found

Doubts about the government's list

Carter echoed concerns from lawyers for California and Los Angeles County about the accuracy of the Justice Department's list. He called the method used to build it "vague" and wrote that he "cannot conclude that plaintiffs' process is credible."

The judge also warned that setting aside the ballots would likely lead to disenfranchisement. He wrote that granting the request could let either political party disrupt the election process for its own purposes. He called the request a "monumental change" to election procedures while voting is under way.

Prosecution as an alternative

At a hearing the day before the ruling, Carter asked Justice Department lawyers why prosecutors could not instead seek indictments after the election. He noted that returned ballot envelopes carry identifying information. "The remedy as a good prosecutor is to make sure these people are prosecuted," he said, according to CBS News.

How the case got here

Earlier this month, the Justice Department sued California, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County registrar-recorder and county clerk Dean Logan. Before filing suit, it sent them letters claiming roughly 20,000 suspected noncitizens were registered to vote and had received mail ballots. It gave officials 48 hours to review the list and asked that those ballots not be tabulated until citizenship was confirmed. California has more than 23 million registered voters, CBS News reported.

On Friday, the department asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to order the ballots set apart. On Monday, the appeals court dismissed that appeal in a 2-1 ruling. It found the administration had not given the district judge "adequate opportunity" to consider temporary relief.

The arguments on each side

The Justice Department

Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, argued that California's refusal to separate the ballots risks diluting Americans' votes. He also argued that mixing the ballots together undercuts Congress's efforts to protect election integrity. He said the administration was not asking to void or cancel any ballots. "There's an interest in the American public having trust and confidence in their elections," Essayli said at a hearing.

California and Los Angeles County

California officials called the lawsuit a "reckless political stunt." Deputy Attorney General Anne Bellows told the court the requested order would be "incredibly disruptive" and a "recipe for disenfranchisement." State lawyers also questioned how and when the government obtained the state's voter registration list. The administration said it "enhances" that data using a third-party service.

Lawyers for Los Angeles County said only just over 7,000 of the 20,000 records had addresses in the county. In a sample of 200 records, county officials said more than half matched canceled or inactive registrations, and just over 38% indicated they were born in the U.S. Nicolas Bartell, an official with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a declaration that the agency reviewed those 200 people and found none were born in the U.S. He also acknowledged that roughly 189 records on the list had "minor data discrepancies."

Voting continues

California mailed ballots to registered voters in early October. More than 550,000 ballots have been processed in Los Angeles County, and more than 3.5 million mail ballots have been returned statewide, according to CBS News. CBS News noted that instances of noncitizen voting are rare.

The California case is one of several. Federal prosecutors in Washington state have asked election officials there to set aside ballots from more than 400 people they allege are not citizens. The administration has also sued Alaska election officials, seeking to block certification of the state's Senate results if GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan loses. More midterm coverage is in our elections section.

What to watch next

• The Justice Department's planned appeal and its request for an emergency order from the 9th Circuit.
• The Nov. 3 midterm elections, which will decide which party controls the House and Senate.
• Whether federal prosecutors in Washington state take legal action over ballots from more than 400 people they allege are noncitizens.
• The administration's lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska's Senate results if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses.