California Must Respond to DOJ on Noncitizen Ballots by Saturday, Appeals Court Rules

A federal appeals court has ordered California to respond by Saturday noon to an emergency request from the Justice Department concerning roughly 20,000 mail-in ballots sent to individuals suspected of being noncitizens ahead of the midterm elections.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued the order late Friday, following an earlier emergency filing by the DOJ. The Justice Department had sought expedited relief from the appeals court after a U.S. District Judge did not rule by a deadline previously set by the department. The DOJ is requesting that California election officials set aside ballots associated with individuals on its list, pending eligibility review, rather than allowing them to be processed with other votes.

In its emergency filing, the DOJ emphasized the urgency, stating, "Every minute of processing that occurs without segregating the ballots of suspected non-eligible voters causes untraceable disenfranchisement and dilution of the votes of United States citizens." The filing was submitted by Attorney General Todd Blanche and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.

Essayli previously stated that federal investigators have evidence indicating that approximately 20,000 individuals received mail-in ballots in October. His office had sued California last week, seeking a court order to prevent ballots returned by these individuals from being counted. "We believe it's at a minimum of 20,000. That's the floor," Essayli said in a recent interview.

Essayli also engaged in a public dispute with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on social media regarding the state's safeguards against noncitizen voting. Essayli accused California of inadequate citizenship verification procedures, while Newsom defended the integrity of the state's elections and adherence to the law.

California election officials have opposed the Justice Department's demands. In court filings, they argued that county election offices lack the authority and access to federal records necessary to verify voters' citizenship. They also contended that separating ballots from individuals on the DOJ's list would be impossible if the ballots have already been processed, as ballot envelopes are separated from the ballots themselves after signature verification.

According to court records, Los Angeles County alone has already processed 331,000 ballots. The DOJ's lawsuit was initially filed on October 15, approximately two weeks after California began mailing ballots. A hearing before U.S. District Judge David Carter is still scheduled for Tuesday, though it remains unclear if the appeals court will issue a ruling before then.