Federal judge blocks California ballot hold

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter denied the Trump administration's request to hold the ballots of up to 20,000 Californians on Wednesday. The federal government alleged that these voters are likely noncitizens. Carter warned that isolating the ballots would "wreak havoc" on the midterm elections currently in progress.

More than 3.7 million people have already cast ballots in California. Election officials have counted over 500,000 of those votes. The administration filed suit in mid-October, accusing state election officials of missing a 48-hour deadline to review a list provided by federal authorities.

Carter wrote that the federal request would disrupt the election and create a chilling effect on workers and voters. He stated that the move would also discount the votes of United States citizens. The Justice Department had asked the judge to require the state to wait to count those ballots until immigration status could be verified.

The administration also sought an expedited ruling from the appeals court before a scheduled Oct. 27 hearing. The higher court rejected that effort. Carter noted that segregating ballots at this stage would force counties to develop new sorting methods. He argued this process would risk disenfranchising an untold number of voters.

The judge found that separating ballots would have the same effect as purging voters from rolls. This violates the National Voting Rights Act, which prohibits changes to voter rolls within 90 days of an election. Carter described the potential loss of trust in democracy as irreparable.

The Justice Department made a similar request this week in Washington state. Officials there were asked to sequester ballots from hundreds of suspected noncitizens. A separate lawsuit in Alaska seeks to delay vote certification if the Republican incumbent for U.S. Senate does not win. All three states have races that will determine the balance of power in Congress.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli argued the federal request would not impede the election. He said the goal was to safeguard the elections and preserve the status quo. Carter rejected the argument that California was impeding federal law enforcement, citing the arrest of 28 noncitizens who had voted or registered illegally.