A US federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s move to block California from counting the ballots of 20,000 registered voters that the justice department claims are non-citizens.
The court on Monday ruled 2-1 against Donald Trump’s justice department in the dispute, denying the administration’s demand that election officials segregate the thousands of ballots until people on the list could verify their citizenship. The justice department had given the California secretary of state 48-hours to carry out the order, which state election officials refused – leading to the lawsuit.
The decision by the San Francisco-based ninth US circuit court of appeals marks a setback in Trump’s attempts to assert a greater federal role in overseeing elections in the run-up to the 3 November midterms. Voting rights groups and Democrats have criticized the effort, saying the Trump administration is attempting to create uncertainty around the upcoming election results as Republicans vie to retain control of Congress.
The ruling is also the latest development in a conflict between California and Trump’s justice department. The DoJ additionally filed criminal charges against 28 green-card holders in California earlier this month over alleged voter fraud – including several people who court papers suggested were confused about their eligibility and agreed to voluntary interviews with investigators.
There is uncertainty over how the justice department developed its list of 20,000 non-citizen registered voters and its accuracy. Court filings from last week showed that Los Angeles election officials analyzed a sample of 200 people on the list and found that a “high percentage” were born in the United States.
The justice department claims about non-citizen voting in California have also faced backlash from state officials, who have said that the DoJ has not provided data or methodology to back up its allegations. California secretary of state Shirley Weber called the department’s claims “vague and unsubstantiated” in a letter earlier this month. Weber also stated that the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year claimed that California had 190,000 registered voters that “may be” non-citizens, but provided no further details on how it reached that number.
California’s attorney general Rob Bonta touted Monday’s decision as a victory for voting rights and rejection of the Trump administration’s “unlawful overreach”, while Governor Gavin Newsom accused Trump of carrying out an “assault on democracy”.
“Today’s ruling is a positive development and a welcome speed bump to Trump’s disgusting attacks on the constitution and our country’s democracy,” Newsom said in a statement.
Trump has personally advocated for his supporters to seek out voter fraud in the midterm elections, posting on his Truth Social platform on Monday that he would issue a $1m reward for anyone whose report led to an arrest or conviction. He has long made unfounded claims that ineligible voting such as non-citizen voting is rampant, despite experts and data having shown it is exceedingly rare.
Associated Press contributed reporting
