From the HERE City National Desk
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal judge on Wednesday turned down the Justice Department’s emergency request to force California election officials to pull aside and stop processing ballots connected to roughly 20,000 people the federal government says are likely noncitizens.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter denied the temporary restraining order in a 26-page ruling, finding that the relief the government wanted would throw an election already in progress into disorder, discourage election workers and voters, and end up discounting votes cast by U.S. citizens. The ruling concluded that setting a ballot aside causes harm that cannot be undone.
The judge pointed to remedies that already exist. Federal prosecutors can charge people who vote illegally as noncitizens, as they have done before and in recent weeks, and California has its own process to cancel the registrations of anyone proven ineligible. The judge also found the government’s plan would likely run afoul of the National Voter Registration Act, the 1993 law that limits changes to voter rolls in the run-up to a federal election.
According to the ruling, the Justice Department delivered its new list on Oct. 13, after Los Angeles County had already mailed about 5.9 million vote-by-mail ballots and processed more than 331,000. The county answered within the 48-hour deadline it was given, saying the list was not specific to the county, covered addresses from across the state and came with no evidence behind the likely-noncitizen label. State and county officials also told the court that many of the people named do not have active registrations.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta argued in court papers that the suit was a step toward broader federal interference in the state’s elections. The Justice Department, which filed the case Oct. 15, quickly gave notice that it will appeal, and the dispute could reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
The California fight is one of several late moves by the department in states with close contests. Federal prosecutors this week asked Washington state officials to review about 400 registered voters it believes may be noncitizens. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Section: More Washington DC politics news
Filed under: Washington DC Politics News
