Appeals court rejects Justice Department request for California to set
aside disputed ballots
[October 31, 2026]
By SAFIYAH RIDDLE, GEOFF MULVIHILL and ALI SWENSON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the
Justice Department’s request for California to set aside disputed
ballots received in the midterm election, and hours later another
federal judge barred the department from intimidating election workers
involved in processing those ballots.
The rulings Friday mark the latest setbacks for the Trump
administration’s efforts to assert control over state-run elections.
The administration has alleged California sent ballots to some 20,000
people who may not be U.S. citizens. It wants the state to set those
ballots aside and not count them until citizenship can be verified.
California officials say the list is highly unreliable and most likely
includes many people who are U.S. citizens.
A district court judge forcefully denied that request on Wednesday and
warned that the Justice Department’s demands could disenfranchise
citizens.
“As the district court found — and we discern no clear error — there is
no feasible way to identify and segregate the ballots of specific
individuals without potentially catastrophic effects on the entire
system,” the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel wrote in its 2-1 ruling.
The majority opinion was authored by Judge Mark J. Bennett, who was
appointed by President Donald Trump, and Judge Gabriel P. Sanchez, who
was appointed by former President Joe Biden.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to
requests for comment on the rulings. But in a statement about the
sweeping efforts to root out noncitizen voting, it said: “Federal law
prohibits noncitizens from voting. Enforcing that law is not an agenda
item. It is the Department’s job."
Millions of people have already voted in California in the midterm
election that concludes Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands of ballots have
already been processed. Elections officials have said that processed
votes can’t be matched back to the voters who submitted them.
Elsewhere, the Trump administration issued a raft of subpoenas in Alaska
in a spoiler-candidate controversy. The Justice Department has also
provided a list of alleged noncitizen voters to officials in Washington
state.
Lawyers for the Justice Department have previously said they will appeal
to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In his dissent, Judge Patrick J. Bumatay argued that California’s
unwillingness to separate the ballots encourages the “violation of
federal law.”
“California says it can do nothing to prevent illegal voting,” Bumatay,
who was appointed by Trump, wrote. “That undermines the federal
government’s interest in promoting election integrity and preventing the
dilution of lawful votes.”
Another judge bars intimidation of election workers
Later Friday, a federal judge in California barred the Justice
Department from threatening or coercing election workers to stop
processing ballots.
The order issued by U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson in the
Northern District of California was in response to a suit filed earlier
Friday by labor unions seeking to bar the Justice Department from
intimidating election workers.
Notably, the emergency order was issued without the Department of
Justice weighing in on the case.
“Election Day is around the corner,” wrote Thompson, who was nominated
by former President Joe Biden. “Ballots have already been issued.
Americans have already begun voting. Workers have already begun
processing ballots. Given the consequences of inaction, the Court sees
no reason to delay its ruling.”
It also bars the Justice Department from demanding local election
officials segregate or not count ballots that the federal government
deems may have been cast by ineligible voters.
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“This ruling is a victory for the workers who make our elections
possible and the communities they serve” April Verrett, president of
the Service Employees International Union, said in a statement
Friday night.
The top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, has warned
that “any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a
noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy.”
On Thursday, The Associated Press obtained subpoenas issued to
election officials in Los Angeles County. The subpoenas request any
documents and communications related to letters sent in July and
October by federal officials to state election officials outlining
the allegations about noncitizen voters. They also seek any
information about efforts to prevent noncitizen votes from being
counted. At least three L.A. County election officials have been
asked to appear before a grand jury the day after the election.
It is unclear whether the Justice Department intends to bring
criminal charges against anyone. The department does not typically
subpoena people whom it regards as targets of a criminal
investigation to appear before a grand jury.
Outside groups win access to the disputed list
In a third Friday ruling, another federal judge ordered the Trump
administration to share the disputed list of names with lawyers for
the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and the UCLA Voting Rights
Project. They want to examine who is on the list and assess its
impact on eligible voters.
It will be the first time that a nongovernment organization will
have the opportunity to evaluate the merits of the list of some
20,000 names. The federal government promptly appealed the decision
on Friday evening.
The Democratic candidate for California governor, Xavier Becerra, is
an adviser to the UCLA Voting Rights Project.
The two groups sued the Homeland Security Department in early
October to prevent it from using federal immigration data to
challenge state voter rolls. The lawsuit cited examples in other
states where the federal government’s data has been proven to
mistakenly include thousands of citizens. It argued that the
data-matching methods risk disenfranchising or deterring citizens
from voting. On top of that, plaintiffs argued, the lists could
disproportionately target naturalized citizens who are legally
entitled to vote.
The Justice Department argues that there is just as much to lose if
the ballots aren’t separated.
“Every ballot cast by an ineligible voter cancels out the vote of an
American citizen," Kiersten V. Pels, a spokesperson for the
department, wrote in an email. "The Department makes no apology for
protecting those votes.”
In a separate but related 9th Circuit Court decision on Friday, a
panel of judges ruled that federal investigations into illegal
voting by noncitizens will remain on hold in nine states until after
Election Day.
The judges, all nominated by Democratic presidents, found that the
aggressive and public investigations led some citizens to decide not
to engage in election-related activities out of fear of being
wrongly targeted.
The judges said the investigations, which are looking into alleged
illegal voting in past elections, can resume after the midterms wrap
up Tuesday.
___
Associated Press writer Swenson reported from New York; Mulvihill
reported from Haddonfield, New Jersey.
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