Ninth Circuit Orders California to Respond to DOJ Request on Noncitizen Mail-in Ballots
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit gave California until Saturday to address the Justice Department’s request to set aside roughly 20,000 mail-in ballots linked to individuals suspected of being noncitizens.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an order late Friday requiring California election officials to respond by noon Saturday to an emergency request from the Justice Department. The request seeks a ruling that would require the state to separate and hold mail-in ballots associated with about 20,000 individuals the department believes are noncitizens, pending a review of their eligibility.
The Justice Department filed the emergency request after U.S. District Judge David Carter failed to rule by a deadline the department had previously set. In the filing, Attorney General Todd Blanche and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli described the matter as an emergency, warning that processing ballots without segregation could lead to “untraceable disenfranchisement and dilution of the votes of United States citizens.”
"We’re not asking California to take any drastic steps other than to sequester the ballots from the suspected noncitizens," Essayli said in an interview. "We believe it’s at a minimum of 20,000. That’s the floor."
California officials have opposed the request, arguing that county election offices lack the authority and access to federal records needed to verify citizenship status and that separating already-processed ballots would be impractical. They note that once a mail-in ballot’s signature is verified, the ballot is detached from its envelope and mixed with other ballots. Records show that 331,000 ballots have already been processed in Los Angeles County alone.
A hearing before Judge Carter is still scheduled for Tuesday, and it remains unclear whether the appeals court will issue a final ruling before that date.