California must respond to DOJ’s emergency request over ballots mailed to alleged noncitizens, court rules
A federal appeals court has ordered California to respond by noon Saturday to the Justice Department’s emergency request concerning about 20,000 mail-in ballots sent to people it suspects are noncitizens. The dispute matters because the department wants those ballots set aside while eligibility is checked, while California officials say they cannot readily verify the list or separate ballots already processed.
The Justice Department filed its request after a district judge did not rule by the department’s requested deadline; a hearing before that judge remains scheduled for Tuesday, and it is unclear whether the appeals court will rule before then. California says county election offices lack access to the federal records needed to confirm citizenship, and that verified ballots are separated from identifying envelopes before processing. Los Angeles County officials had processed 331,000 ballots, according to court records.
In short
- Appeals court orders California to respond by noon Saturday.
- DOJ says about 20,000 ballots may involve suspected noncitizens.
- California says checking and separating ballots is not feasible in some cases.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The Justice Department can argue that ballots should be held aside while eligibility concerns are checked, so that only eligible voters’ ballots count and public confidence in the election is protected. It may also say urgent court consideration is warranted because ballots could be processed before the dispute is resolved.
The case against
California can argue that a suspicion-based list is not enough to justify setting aside ballots, especially when counties lack access to the federal records needed to verify it. Since identifying envelopes are separated during processing, trying to isolate ballots after that point may be impractical and could risk valid votes being excluded.
Explained simply
California runs elections through its 58 counties, which send mail-in ballots to registered voters. State and federal laws restrict voting in federal elections to US citizens, but voter registration and citizenship records are held by different agencies, making eligibility checks a practical challenge.
The Justice Department is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal laws, while California’s election officials oversee voting in the state. The dispute concerns a federal list of people the department suspects are noncitizens; suspicion alone does not establish that someone is ineligible, and state officials say they cannot readily verify the list using their records.
The question matters because setting aside ballots could affect eligible voters, while counting ballots from people who are not eligible could breach election rules. Once a mail-in ballot is separated from its identifying envelope and processed, officials may have difficulty matching it back to a particular voter.