Trump’s bid to toss 20,000 California ballots could ‘jeopardize’ midterm elections, appeals court warns

Trump’s bid to toss 20,000 California ballots could ‘jeopardize’ midterm elections, appeals court warns Supreme Court showdown appears imminent in battle over voters DOJ has accused of being noncitizens - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in A federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration’s latest attempt to stop counting 20,000 ballots in California, an effort that a panel of appeals court judges said could “jeopardize” midterm elections and disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters. Friday’s 2-1 decision marks the third straight loss for the administration in its efforts to block ballots from alleged noncitizen voters, a legal battle that is expected to make its way to the Supreme Court with just three days left until Election Day with the balance of power in Congress at stake. “We decline the United States’s invitation to contravene the Elections Clause by undermining the Constitution’s plain text,” the court’s majority wrote. The court has “major concerns” that the administration’s attempts to seize control of the state’s election process will risk “disenfranchisement of eligible voters” and could put the “entire tabulation process in jeopardy,” judges wrote. On Wednesday, a federal judge in California warned that the administration’s attempts to separate ballots could “wreak havoc” on elections and threatens to endanger American democracy. “Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable. Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred,” U.S. District Judge David O. Carter wrote. “If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger. This Court declines to be a party to such a process.” The administration’s request also could create “a chilling effect on election workers and voters alike, and discount the votes of United States citizens." The Department of Justice immediately appealed Carter’s order and then escalated its investigations in the state by issuing federal grand jury subpoenas to local election officials in a last-ditch attempt to prove unsubstantiated claims that thousands of noncitizens are on the state’s voter rolls. On Friday, the union representing California election workers sued the Justice Department for what it called “unprecedented and unlawful threats” that “risk interfering with the lawful administration of the ongoing 2026 midterm elections and the counting of ballots.” The Justice Department has also pressed officials in Washington state to sequester ballots from at least 400 people the administration has accused of being noncitizens. Federal law mandates a “quiet period” 90 days before an election to ensure voters aren’t wrongly disenfranchised without enough time to make corrections. But less than four weeks before Election Day, the Trump administration sent a thumb drive containing the names of 20,000 alleged noncitizens to election officials in Los Angeles with a demand to investigate each of them within 48 hours. California mails ballots to all 23 million registered voters in the state. More than 500,000 ballots had already been processed in the week before Election Day, meaning their envelopes had been verified and the ballots removed — making it virtually impossible for election officials and law enforcement to know which ballot belonged to which voter. State officials reviewed a sample of 200 names from the list, and more than half had never even had ballots mailed to them, nearly three-quarters never voted at all, and nearly 40 percent were citizens. The administration;’s request likely violates the National Voter Registration Act, which establishes the 90-day “quiet period” rule, appeals court Judges Mark J. Bennett and Gabriel P. Sanchez wrote Friday. “As the district court found — and we discern no clear error — there is no feasible way to identify and segregate the ballots of specific individuals without potentially catastrophic effects on the entire system,” they said. Following Carter’s ruling earlier this week, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the judge’s decision “disenfranchises American citizens through dilution.” “Segregating a ballot does not prevent it from being counted later,” he argued. “It is designed to preserve the status quo and prevent the infection of our election with illegal ballots.” Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments [Image text:] 56250032 2017 LABEL OTHER n37bpe BUSINESS END CNTEDSTATESPOSTAL SERVICE MAENNG