9th Circuit rejects bid to set aside 20,000 California ballots

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on Friday against the Trump administration's effort to force California to separate the ballots of more than 20,000 voters. The panel concluded that the government did not meet the legal standard for such an extraordinary measure during an active election cycle.

The decision was split, with two judges voting in favor of the ruling and one dissenting. The majority opinion stated that no viable method exists to identify and remove specific ballots without causing potentially catastrophic effects on the entire voting system. This marks the second time in one week that the appeals court has denied a government request to intervene in the case.

The legal battle began earlier this month when the Justice Department filed a lawsuit. The administration argued that more than 20,000 mail-in ballots in California might belong to non-citizens. The suit sought a court order requiring state election officials to set those ballots aside before they were counted.

District Judge David Carter initially rejected the emergency request in a ruling issued on Wednesday. Carter found that the government's methodology for creating its list of names lacked reliability. He noted that the Department of Homeland Security had previously estimated the number of non-citizen voters in California to be closer to 200,000, a figure significantly higher than the 20,000 cited in the lawsuit.

Carter also pointed to inconsistencies in how the government handled similar claims in other states. In Nevada, officials initially claimed 15,903 non-citizens were registered to vote. After a manual review, that number dropped to 6,218, and later to 185. Nevada officials eventually confirmed all 185 individuals were citizens. Carter argued that the vagueness of the government's process made it difficult to trust the data presented in California.

Judge Patrick Bumatay, who dissented, argued the proposed fix was a moderate corrective measure. He wrote that the federal government and states can collaborate, and that California had long decided non-citizens cannot vote. Bumatay suggested the court should have allowed the government to attempt the separation. The majority, however, was joined by Judge Mark Bennet and Judge Gabriel Sanchez.

Kristen Clarke, general counsel for the NAACP, which defended the case, said the Justice Department tried to silence the voices of thousands of Californians without credible evidence. She stated that the ruling sends a clear message that elections must be governed by facts and constitutional principles rather than political interference. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether it plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.