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Judge denies the Justice Department’s bid to stop processing California ballots
Developed over time first seen 2 weeks ago
A federal judge rejected the US Justice Department’s emergency request to halt the processing of ballots linked to about 20,000 California voters whom federal officials described as “likely” non-citizens. In his 28 October ruling, US District Judge David Carter refused to order election officials to set those ballots aside while citizenship checks continued. The department argued that the matter was urgent because, once a mailed ballot is separated from its verified envelope to protect voter confidentiality, officials cannot identify and retrieve it. California officials disputed the reliability of the federal list and said the proposed change, days before the midterm election, could prevent eligible voters’ ballots from being counted.
Carter found the government’s evidence insufficient to justify disrupting an election already under way. He raised concerns about the method used to identify the voters and said segregating ballots could harm eligible voters and create confusion for election workers. The ruling did not resolve every dispute over the list or prevent prosecutors from pursuing individual cases of unlawful voting. The Justice Department said it would appeal, leaving the wider legal fight open even as California continued processing ballots under its existing procedures.
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In short
- A judge refused to halt processing of ballots linked to about 20,000 California voters.
- The Justice Department’s citizenship claims and matching method remain disputed.
- The department said it would appeal the emergency ruling.
How this story developed
- 2 weeks ago A federal judge rejected the US Justice Department’s emergency request to halt the processing of ballots linked to about 20,000 California voters whom federal officials described as “likely” non-citizens.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The Justice Department’s strongest case is that election officials should not count ballots cast by people who are not eligible to vote, and that the ballots may become impossible to identify once separated from their envelopes. It argues that pausing processing temporarily would preserve the ability to check citizenship and address suspected unlawful voting, protecting confidence in the election and the integrity of the rules.
The case against
California’s strongest case is that the federal list was not reliable enough to justify singling out roughly 20,000 voters, who may include eligible citizens. Halting or segregating ballots just before an election could wrongly disenfranchise voters and disrupt election workers, while individual investigations remain possible without putting all those ballots at risk.
Explained simply
In the United States, states run elections and set procedures for handling ballots. California voters can cast ballots by post; officials check the return envelope before separating it from the ballot, so the voter’s identity is kept confidential.
The Justice Department is part of the federal government and can bring legal challenges over election rules. California officials questioned how federal officials identified about 20,000 voters as possibly not being citizens, while the dispute raised questions about how to check eligibility without delaying or wrongly excluding eligible voters.
The case matters because changing ballot procedures while voting is under way could affect whether ballots are counted and how election workers handle them. The court’s decision concerned the requested halt to processing; it did not settle every dispute about the voter list or rule out individual prosecutions.
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