9th Circuit Dismisses DOJ Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Ballots
Updated
Updated · CBS New York · Oct 26
9th Circuit Dismisses DOJ Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Ballots
3 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Oct 26
Summary
A 2-1 Ninth Circuit panel threw out the Justice Department's emergency appeal, saying it lacked jurisdiction because the district court had not been given adequate time to rule.
Less than 3 weeks before the Nov. 3 midterms, the panel said the government's claimed emergency was partly self-created after it sued late and sought a restraining order only after California had begun processing ballots.
Los Angeles County has already processed about 550,000 mail ballots, and Judge Mark Bennett wrote he would have rejected the request on the merits even if the court had reached them; Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented.
The dispute centers on a DOJ list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizen voters, but county officials said the methodology was unexplained and a 200-record sample included many inactive registrations and some U.S. birthplaces.
The administration can still ask the full Ninth Circuit to reconsider, while a district court hearing on its request to force ballot segregation remains part of Trump's broader push for tighter federal control over elections.