Appeals Court Allows 20,000 California Mail Ballots To Be Counted In Midterms

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on Monday that permits California to count approximately 20,000 mailed ballots ahead of the November 3 midterm election. The court denied the federal government's request to sequester the ballots, which had been sent to individuals the administration believes are likely non-citizens.

The decision was split two-to-one. The majority opinion stated that the Trump administration did not provide lower courts with sufficient time to review the matter before seeking an expedited appeal. Consequently, the appeals court declined to halt the state's tabulation process.

Judge Gabriel Sanchez, writing for the majority, emphasized that election administration falls within the traditional domain of the state. He warned that allowing the federal government to dictate these procedures would invite disorder and confusion for both voters and election officials. The administration had filed its lawsuit on October 15, less than three weeks before the election date.

The federal government argued that the ballots were mailed to people who were ineligible to vote due to citizenship status. However, the administration has not publicly released the methodology used to create the list or determine the eligibility of the specific voters identified. California officials questioned the accuracy of the list, describing the lawsuit as an effort to interfere with the state's voting process.

Lawyers for California Secretary of State Shirley Weber called the litigation a reckless political stunt in a court filing on October 20. They argued that the case threatened to disenfranchise thousands of eligible Californians. The state has a Democrat-led government, and the administration has previously claimed that the state is prone to election cheating.

The case is currently active in a lower court, with a hearing scheduled for Tuesday. The Trump administration sought a rapid decision from the appeals court due to the proximity of the election. The midterms are set to determine which party holds power in Congress, where Republicans currently maintain slim majorities in both chambers.

Experts project that the Democratic Party is on track to make gains, potentially flipping one or both chambers. In the lead-up to the vote, the administration has highlighted non-citizen voting as a threat to integrity. However, data from a Reuters investigation in July found only 129 cases of non-citizens charged with illegal voting by federal authorities since 1996.

Many of those historical cases involved administrative errors rather than fraudulent intent. Last week, the administration charged 28 immigrants in California with illegally voting. Reporting from the Los Angeles Times indicated that some of the accused expressed confusion over the charges, maintaining that they had never registered to vote. The Department of Justice has also sued 30 states and Washington, D.C., for access to voter rolls, losing 26 of those cases so far.