Judge Blocks DOJ Request to Stop Processing California Ballots

A federal judge has rejected the Department of Justice's request to stop processing ballots for 20,000 individuals in California's midterm elections. The DOJ argued that these ballots, involving people labeled as 'likely' noncitizens, should be segregated to prevent ineligible voters from casting ballots.

California state and local officials disputed the DOJ's claim, stating the list of 'likely' noncitizens lacks reliability. A preliminary analysis by Los Angeles County found many on the list do not have active voter registrations, raising concerns about the accuracy of the DOJ's data.

U.S. District Judge David Carter, a Clinton appointee, ruled against the DOJ's request for a temporary restraining order. He emphasized that the federal government's attempt to interfere with state election procedures on the eve of an election was unprecedented and potentially harmful to democratic processes.

Carter expressed concerns that segregating ballots so close to Election Day would disenfranchise eligible voters and create chaos. He warned that once ballots are separated, the harm is irreversible, and the court would not allow the executive branch to undermine the election process based on unproven allegations.

The DOJ has argued that the issue is urgent, as ballots are already being processed. Once signatures are verified on mail ballots, the ballots are separated from envelopes, making it impossible to retrieve ineligible votes. Federal prosecutors claim that noncitizen voting dilutes the votes of U.S. citizens, though this has been shown to be extremely rare through audits and investigations.

The accuracy of the DOJ's list remains in dispute. A Los Angeles County analysis of a small sample found many individuals claimed to be born in the U.S., but U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services official Nicolas Bartell contested this, stating his office found no U.S.-born individuals on the list. Bartell acknowledged that four people might have a claim to U.S. citizenship.