Federal judge blocks DOJ attempt to cast doubt on California mail ballots
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U.S. District Judge David Carter threw out a Justice Department lawsuit that sought to isolate mail ballots from alleged noncitizens in California, calling it an effort to interfere with the election and sow chaos.
A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a Justice Department lawsuit that tried to force California election officials to set aside mail ballots from up to 20,000 alleged non-citizens, a move critics saw as a transparent attempt to intimidate voters and meddle in the democratic process. In a one-paragraph order, U.S. District Judge David Carter said the suit "attempted to disrupt an ongoing election and create confusion and uncertainty for voters and election workers alike," adding that "the right to vote is sacred. So, too, is trust in our democracy."
The lawsuit, filed in mid-October after California had already begun processing hundreds of thousands of mail ballots, claimed that more than 20,000 registered voters were not U.S. citizens. It asked for a court order directing election workers to separate the identified ballots until citizenship could be verified, a demand that would have inserted needless suspicion into the vote-counting process.
After the Justice Department failed to obtain relief from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court before the November 3 midterm elections, it notified Judge Carter that it would voluntarily dismiss the case. A Justice Department lawyer wrote that the United States was "evaluating how to best ensure that American votes are protected, including by preventing vote dilution by noncitizens."
The judge’s order closed the case and cancelled a hearing that had been scheduled for the following Friday.