9th Circuit Rejects Federal Bid to Halt 20,000 California Ballots

20,000 mail-in ballots in California will remain counted in the November 3 midterm elections. A federal appeals court issued this decision on Friday, less than four days before voters cast their ballots.

It is the second time in under a week that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked the Trump administration from setting aside these specific votes. The administration filed its initial lawsuit on October 15. It claims that nearly 20,000 individuals on a state list are likely non-citizens. The White House asked the court to prevent those ballots from being tallied.

The majority opinion, written by Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez, found that the federal government’s request would violate the U.S. Constitution. The judges noted that the move would not just separate the ballots but cancel them entirely. This process would also remove the voters from official registration rolls.

Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented from the decision. He argued that the administration’s petition was a reasonable request to ensure only eligible voters were counted. The legal dispute centers on the Constitution’s Elections Clause, which grants states primary authority over administering elections.

California officials have challenged the accuracy of the federal list. The state argued that the administration failed to provide proof that the names on the list belonged to foreign nationals. Governor Gavin Newsom described the lawsuit as a desperate attempt by the Justice Department to suppress California voters.

The federal list arrived on October 12, three weeks before the election. Similar lists have been sent to Nevada and Washington. In Nevada, state authorities stated in September that the federal government mistakenly identified citizens as non-citizens. Officials said not a single name on the Nevada list was correct.

The administration recently charged 28 foreign nationals in California with election-related infractions. Some of those accused told the Los Angeles Times they had never registered to vote. Reporting from the newspaper indicated that some defendants shared the same name as eligible U.S. citizens.

California will elect 52 members of the House of Representatives on November 3. The state has long been a target of criticism from the president, who accused Democratic leaders of cheating in past elections. The court’s ruling keeps the ballots in the count while the midterms proceed on schedule.