A federal appeals court has rejected the Justice Department’s bid to force California to set aside thousands of disputed ballots, as Los Angeles County officials head into Tuesday’s general election insisting that ballots are secure and will be counted.
In a 2-1 ruling Friday, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district judge’s Oct. 28 denial of the request, The Associated Press reported. The majority found no clear error in the lower court’s conclusion that there is no feasible way to pull specific voters’ ballots without risking severe harm to the entire election system.
The Trump administration alleges California sent ballots to roughly 20,000 people who may not be U.S. citizens and wants those ballots held uncounted until citizenship can be verified. State officials contend the list is highly unreliable and likely includes many citizens. Election officials have also said ballots already processed cannot be matched back to the voters who cast them.
Judges Mark J. Bennett, appointed by President Donald Trump, and Gabriel P. Sanchez, appointed by former President Joe Biden, formed the majority. Judge Patrick J. Bumatay, also a Trump appointee, dissented, arguing that California’s refusal to separate the ballots encourages violations of federal law and undercuts efforts to keep lawful votes from being diluted.
Justice Department lawyers have previously said they would take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court. The department has defended its effort. “Every ballot cast by an ineligible voter cancels out the vote of an American citizen,” department spokesperson Kiersten V. Pels told the AP.
The county faces its own lawsuit from the department, which is seeking to require Los Angeles County to set aside ballots cast by residents. County officials say the suit rests on unverified claims of ineligibility and that any such concerns must be backed by verifiable evidence and addressed through established legal procedures.
“Claims of unlawful voting must be supported by verifiable evidence, not assumptions,” Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan said in a statement.
The federal pressure has also reached county election staff. Subpoenas issued to Los Angeles County election officials, obtained by the AP on Thursday, seek documents and communications tied to federal letters sent to state election officials in July and October laying out the noncitizen voting allegations. They also seek information on any efforts to keep noncitizen votes from being counted. At least three county election officials have been asked to appear before a grand jury Wednesday, the day after the election.
Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, has warned that election officials who knowingly process a noncitizen’s ballot expose themselves to legal jeopardy. It is unclear whether the Justice Department intends to bring criminal charges against anyone, according to the AP.
Several other legal developments Friday also went against the administration. A federal judge ordered it to share the list of about 20,000 names with lawyers for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and the UCLA Voting Rights Project, which want to examine its effect on eligible voters. The government quickly appealed. Xavier Becerra, the Democratic candidate for governor, is an adviser to the UCLA project.
In a separate ruling, a different 9th Circuit panel ordered federal investigations into alleged past noncitizen voting to remain on hold in nine states until after Election Day. A coalition of unions, including the AFL-CIO and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, also asked a federal judge to bar the department from demanding that local officials stop counting ballots and from threatening to prosecute those who do not comply.
County officials say safeguards are in place at every stage of voting, including verification procedures, security controls and public observation of the count, which can also be watched online at lavote.gov/livestream. Every vote-by-mail ballot undergoes signature verification before it is counted. Voters whose signatures are missing or do not match are notified and given a chance to resolve the problem, and officials stressed that a ballot flagged for review does not indicate wrongdoing.
All five county supervisors issued statements backing the county’s election operations. “LA County has invested in one of the most secure and robust election systems in the nation, and now we are in court fighting to protect the rights of our voters,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents the 4th District. Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the 5th District, said she supports the county responding openly to any legal inquiry and is confident the system “will pass every test.”
All 646 vote centers in the county are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, and eligible residents who missed the registration deadline can register and vote on site. The county’s 429 official drop boxes accept vote-by-mail ballots until 8 p.m. Tuesday. Officials urged voters to skip the mail, since ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and changes at the U.S. Postal Service mean ballots mailed now may not be postmarked in time.
Locations are listed at locator.lavote.gov and lavote.gov/dropbox. Voters can track their ballot at california.ballottrax.net or call the registrar’s hotline at 800-815-2666.