Election Law: Judge halts DOJ bid to segregate 20,000 California ballots

U.S. District Judge David Carter issued a 26-page order on Wednesday evening rejecting the Department of Justice's emergency motion to segregate specific California ballots. The ruling blocks the federal government from halting the processing of mail-in votes for approximately 20,000 individuals the DOJ identifies as likely noncitizens. Carter, a Clinton appointee, denied the temporary restraining order that would have forced state officials to set these ballots aside before the midterms.

The Justice Department filed its lawsuit on Oct. 15, seeking to stop California from counting votes cast by people it believes are not U.S. citizens. Federal officials argued that urgency was required because mail ballots are already being processed. Once signatures are verified and ballots are separated from envelopes to protect privacy, the DOJ contends it becomes impossible to retrieve ineligible votes. The department maintains that noncitizen votes dilute the ballots of legal citizens.

State and local election officials countered that the DOJ's list is unreliable and that segregating ballots days before Election Day would create administrative chaos. Los Angeles County provided a preliminary analysis showing many individuals on the federal list do not have active voter registrations. In a recent filing, State Attorney General Rob Bonta warned that the litigation is a precursor to further interference. Bonta wrote that the court must not be drawn into a chilling degradation of democratic values.

Carter expressed concern that segregating votes could cause lasting harm to eligible voters. He noted that the federal government has historically addressed illegal voting through criminal indictments rather than pre-election intervention. The judge observed that the executive branch had not previously sought to coerce state and local governments to alter constitutional election procedures on the eve of a vote. Carter wrote that if the executive can discount votes based on unproven allegations, the democracy is in danger.

The dispute over the accuracy of the DOJ list continues. USCIS senior official Nicolas Bartell told the court that his office found none of the sampled individuals were U.S.-born, though he acknowledged four might have a claim to citizenship. Conversely, political scientist Kassra Oskooi, an expert witness for voting rights groups, filed a declaration stating that the USCIS matching protocol is likely to be unreliable. The DOJ expects to appeal Carter's decision, potentially sending the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Federal prosecutors have charged dozens of people in the last two months for registering or voting without citizenship. The California case is part of a series of recent legal actions by the DOJ in states close to Election Day. In Washington state, prosecutors asked officials to review a list of 400 registered voters. In Alaska, the DOJ filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the state from certifying Senate results if the Republican incumbent loses due to a similar-named spoiler candidate.

The next step in the litigation awaits the DOJ's formal appeal. Until then, California election officials will continue processing the ballots in question under the current state procedures.