9th Circuit lets California count 20,000 mail ballots

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that California may tabulate approximately 20,000 mail-in ballots for the November 3 midterm election. The panel denied a request from the Trump administration to sequester those votes, allowing the state to proceed with counting them as part of the general election.

The dispute centers on a list of voters the federal government identified as likely non-citizens. The administration filed its lawsuit on October 15, less than three weeks before the election. It argued that the ballots should be held back because the recipients were ineligible to vote. However, the government has not publicly disclosed the methodology used to create that list or determine citizenship status.

Judge Gabriel Sanchez wrote the majority opinion in the two-to-one decision. He stated that the Trump administration failed to give lower courts adequate time to review the case. Because of this procedural gap, the appeals court declined to stop the tabulation. Sanchez noted that election administration falls within the state's traditional domain under the U.S. Constitution. He warned that granting the federal petition would be "inviting disorder and confusion for voters and election officials alike."

The case is currently pending in a lower court, with a hearing scheduled for Tuesday. The Trump administration sought an expedited decision from the appeals court, pointing to the immediate election date. The state of California is led by Democrats, while President Donald Trump is a Republican. Trump has repeatedly claimed that California is prone to cheating in its elections. California lawyers for Secretary of State Shirley Weber described the litigation as a "reckless political stunt" in a court filing on October 20. They argued the suit threatened to disenfranchise thousands of residents.

The midterm elections will determine which party controls Congress. Republicans currently hold slim majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Experts project that the Democratic Party is on track to gain seats, potentially flipping one or both chambers. In the lead-up to the vote, Trump has framed non-citizen voting as a threat to election integrity. California officials have cast doubt on the administration's claims, suggesting the lawsuit is an effort to interfere with state voting processes.

Trump’s Department of Justice has sued 30 states and Washington, D.C., seeking complete access to voter rolls that contain sensitive personal data. The department argues this access is necessary to prevent alleged fraud. It has lost 26 of those cases so far. Opponents have successfully argued that the suits could scare away voters and interfere with state administration. The administration has not yet won any of the 30 cases.

A July investigation by Reuters found only 129 cases of noncitizens being charged by federal authorities with illegal voting since 1996. Many of those incidents involved administrative errors or confusion about rules rather than fraudulent intent. Voting rights advocates point to flaws in how the administration identifies potential non-citizens. They warn that some eligible voters may be disenfranchised. Immigration agents have been assigned to identify non-citizen voters, sometimes knocking on doors to inquire about residency status.

Last week, the administration charged 28 immigrants in California with illegally voting. Reporting from the Los Angeles Times indicated that some accused individuals reacted with confusion. Several maintained they never registered to vote. Non-citizens are barred from participating in federal elections in all 50 states. Trump lost his 2020 re-election bid to Joe Biden but denied the defeat, blaming vote rigging. That claim prompted supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2023, in an effort to halt certification.