Judge Carter Rejects DOJ Bid to Segregate 20,000 California Ballots
Updated
Updated · NBC News · Oct 29
Judge Carter Rejects DOJ Bid to Segregate 20,000 California Ballots
3 articles · Updated · NBC News · Oct 29
Summary
David Carter refused to order California to set aside roughly 20,000 mail ballots from voters the Justice Department says are likely noncitizens, ruling the late request would disrupt an election already underway.
Carter said election administration belongs to the state and pointed the federal government to criminal enforcement instead, telling prosecutors to bring indictments if they have evidence of illegal voting.
California argued the federal lists were unreliable and shifting — the government cited 190,000 suspect voters in July before narrowing the current request to more than 20,000 names without disclosing its methodology.
The ruling follows the DOJ's Oct. 15 lawsuit and an earlier 2-1 loss at the 9th Circuit, where the majority said the claimed emergency was partly self-created by the government's delay in suing.