DOJ Seeks Supreme Court Intervention to Halt Counting of 20,000 California Ballots
The Justice Department claims its list of likely noncitizens is accurate, but lower courts and UCLA researchers have raised doubts about the data.
By Lucia Orlov ·
The Department of Justice filed a notice on Monday seeking emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court. This move comes one day before Election Day and aims to resolve a dispute over California voter rolls.
The Justice Department has identified 20,000 likely noncitizens on the state's voter list. The department argues that these individuals' ballots should not be counted until their citizenship is verified. It requested that the high court order California to stop processing these specific ballots.
Lower courts have already rejected the federal government's earlier requests. Federal Judge David Carter described the department's actions as a broad, ongoing pattern of attempted election interference. A divided Ninth Circuit panel also denied the DOJ's emergency request on Friday.
Ninth Circuit Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez warned that changing rules so close to the vote risks disenfranchising voters. They cited the Purcell principle, which discourages altering election rules on the eve of an election. The judges also noted that the Constitution grants states authority to run elections. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented from that decision.
The number of ballots actually in dispute may be much lower than 20,000. County election officials found that many people on the DOJ list did not have active registrations. Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles were granted access to the list through a separate court order. Their analysis showed that 42% of the names do not appear on California's current voter roll. They also found naturalized citizens on the list.
The federal government has escalated its conflict with California officials in recent weeks. The DOJ sent subpoenas to election officials and reminded them of potential criminal prosecution for allowing ineligible voters. A San Francisco federal judge issued a temporary restraining order late Friday. That order bars the administration from threatening or coercing officials to stop processing ballots. The government has appealed that order as well.
Source: KUNM
