United States district judge, Central District of California
Federal courts have rejected the Justice Department’s emergency requests to force California to separate roughly 20,000 mail ballots the administration says are tied to likely non‑citizens. Lower courts and the 9th Circuit have flagged unreliable data and the risk of disenfranchising lawful voters as voting has already been processing across the state ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms.
The Justice Department has sought to pause or adjust how California handles ballots linked to a list the administration says flags noncitizens. Courts have rejected last-minute demands to segregate or purge ballots. California maintains the list is flawed and unreliable as millions of ballots are counted.