California ballot lawsuit stays in district court after appeals court declines to intervene over 20,000 ballots

Panel rejects emergency request

On Monday, a three-judge 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel denied the Justice Department’s bid for an order requiring California to separate roughly 20,000 mail-in ballots. The administration claims the ballots are linked to people likely to be non-citizens.

Circuit Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez ruled against the request. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented. Bennett was appointed by President Donald Trump, Sanchez by President Joe Biden, and Bumatay by Trump.

Judges cite government delays

Bennett and Sanchez said the government had contributed to the urgency it described. They pointed to delays in bringing the lawsuit, recognizing that California law governs ballot issuance and processing, and explaining the relief it wanted.

During a rare Sunday emergency hearing, Bennett questioned whether the appeals court had jurisdiction. He pressed Justice Department attorney Matthew Donnelly about seeking emergency review while a district court hearing was already scheduled for Tuesday.

California review of names

In court filings, Los Angeles officials said a preliminary review of 200 names from the list found a high percentage of people who said they were born in the United States. Officials also said many had no voting history.

Nearly 40% of the records indicated U.S. birth, which officials described as strong evidence of citizenship. They said 71.2% showed no voting history.

Dispute over election authority

Donnelly said the department sought relief after California disclosed how many mail ballots were already being processed ahead of the election, a number in the hundreds of thousands. Bennett questioned how federal criminal law could override state laws governing elections, particularly when both Congress and California had made voting by non-citizens illegal.