Judge Rejects Trump Administration’s California Ballot Bid

A 2-1 Ninth Circuit panel declined to grant the Trump administration emergency relief requiring California to set aside roughly 20,000 mail ballots tied to voters the Justice Department suspects may be noncitizens, saying it lacked jurisdiction to intervene before the district court had an adequate opportunity to act. U.S. District Judge David Carter later rejected the request, finding the government’s allegations inadequately supported and warning that segregating ballots during an ongoing election could disrupt state procedures and disenfranchise eligible voters. California officials challenged the reliability of the federal list, while the DOJ argued that suspected ineligible votes could dilute lawful votes. Carter said federal authorities could pursue individual illegal-voting cases, and the DOJ may continue its legal challenge.