DOJ Dismisses Lawsuit to Block California Ballot Count

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss its lawsuit aimed at preventing California from counting approximately 20,000 ballots it claimed were cast by noncitizens.

The motion to drop the case was submitted days after significant Republican losses in the midterm elections and just days before a scheduled hearing where a special master was set to assess the accuracy of the voter list.

California officials have maintained that the list is outdated and includes legitimate voters, a stance echoed by the federal judge overseeing the case.

The lawsuit was part of former President Donald Trump's broader effort to assert control over state-run elections, which Trump has said are rife with illegal voting without providing evidence.

The DOJ continues to face legal challenges from immigrant and voting rights groups over its use of the noncitizen ballot list. A similar case in Alaska at Trump’s direction before the election to block the victory of the Democrat in that state’s Senate race was swiftly dismissed by a federal judge.

California has processed around 9 million ballots as of early Friday, with nearly 5 million remaining to be counted, according to state election officials.

The motion to dismiss argued that by the time of the upcoming hearing, the state will have already irreparably 'commingled the challenged ballots with lawful ones.'

Federal prosecutors previously argued in court that the lawsuit would be irrelevant after Election Day, because there would be no way to sequester the ones allegedly belonging to noncitizens.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California referred all questions to the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., which did not respond to an emailed request for comment on Friday evening.

California prosecutors in recent weeks have arrested over 30 noncitizens who are accused of registering to vote. Some who were arrested were also accused of voting in previous elections.