9th Circuit Again Rejects Trump Bid to Block 20,000 California Ballots
Updated
Updated · Los Angeles Times · Oct 30
9th Circuit Again Rejects Trump Bid to Block 20,000 California Ballots
3 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Times · Oct 30
Summary
A 2-1 Ninth Circuit panel on Friday denied the Trump administration for a second time this week, saying it had not shown emergency relief was clearly required to stop California from processing 20,000 challenged ballots.
The majority said the Constitution leaves election procedures to states and Congress, and warned the administration was trying to use federal statutes to dictate California’s ballot-handling rules during an ongoing election.
Judges also cited a federal 90-day freeze on broad voter-roll changes and questioned the reliability of the administration’s noncitizen list, which California says contains errors and covers less than 0.1% of the state’s 23 million voters.
The ruling followed the same panel’s Monday rejection and a district court loss on Wednesday; Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented, calling the administration’s request a modest step to separate suspect ballots pending verification.
The fight is widening beyond the ballot challenge, with federal grand jury subpoenas reaching California election officials and parallel lawsuits arguing the administration is intimidating local workers and trying to seize greater control over election administration.
If flagged ballots cannot be separated during an election, what legal or technical tools remain to verify voter eligibility without disrupting counting?