The federal request was later rejected by a district court, escalating a legal battle that threatens to impact thousands of congressional ballots.
The Justice Department asked the court to pause the counting of disputed mail-in ballots until the citizenship of the voters who cast them can be verified.
Voting in California began at the start of October, with local authorities mailing ballots to roughly 23 million registered voters. Hundreds of thousands of those ballots have already been processed in the heavily Democratic state.
Federal Courts Reject Administration Voting Lists
The Monday filing followed an earlier rejection last Wednesday by an Los Angeles district court. U.S. District Judge David Carter stated that individuals flagged by the federal government on voter lists in other states as non-citizens were actually naturalized U.S. citizens. Judge Carter noted that never before in American history had the federal executive branch attempted on the eve of an election to force state and local governments to abandon their own constitutionally guaranteed voting procedures.
Separately on Monday, U.S. District James Boasberg in Washington concluded that the government-compiled lists were flawed and incorrectly categorized many lawful voters as non-citizens. Appointed by Barack Obama, Judge Boasberg ruled that California retains the authority to determine its own procedures for verifying the citizenship of registered voters, adding that the executive branch lacks the power to unilaterally impose preferred methods.
Justice Department Warns States Against Non-Citizen Voting
The Justice Department previously warned election officials across all 50 states that they could face criminal prosecution if they knowingly retain non-citizens on voter rolls or allow them to cast ballots. Analyses by Reuters show that since 1996—when Congress criminalized voting by non-citizens—only 129 cases have resulted in charges, many stemming from administrative errors rather than intentional fraud.
The U.S. Constitution grants individual states the authority to administer elections, provided that federal contests meet criteria established by Congress. That constitutional division of powers has frustrated Donald Trump, who has repeatedly tried to intervene in voting procedures through executive orders blocked by the courts, and who previously made unsuccessful efforts to restrict mail-in voting by claiming it was fraudulent, as reported by the Associated Press.
Common Questions About the California Voting Dispute
The Justice Department requested the halt over claims that more than 20,000 registered mail-in voters on federal lists may not be U.S. citizens, prompting a demand to verify their citizenship before processing their votes.
How did federal judges respond to the administration’s requests?
U.S. District Judge David Carter in Los Angeles rejected an initial request last Wednesday, while U.S. District James Boasberg in Washington dismissed the administration’s Monday petition, ruling that the federal lists are flawed and that the executive branch cannot unilaterally force states to alter constitutionally protected voting procedures.
How many total voters received ballots in California for this election?
Local authorities mailed ballots to approximately 23 million registered voters across the state starting in early October, with hundreds of thousands of those ballots already processed prior to the court rulings.
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