Federal judge blocks Trump administration from removing 20,000 California ballots

A federal judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration to stop demanding that California officials separate ballots from 20,000 individuals. The ruling, issued by Chief Judge James Boasberg on Monday, halts the Justice Department’s push to isolate votes from people on a list of suspected noncitizens.

The decision lands one day before the midterm elections. California election officials argue the federal list is full of errors and that removing ballots now is logistically impossible. They state that millions of votes have already been cast and processed since early October.

Boasberg wrote that the executive branch likely violated the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution. He noted that the clause commits authority over election rules to the states and Congress alone. The judge based his ruling on the principle that the federal government cannot unilaterally change state voting procedures during an active election.

The administration appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on the same day. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the high court for a limited injunction. He warned that once California mixes the disputed ballots with valid ones, there is no way to get them back. The government wants the ballots set aside until voter status is verified.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the appeal an attempt to undermine elections. He said the move reeks of desperation and tramples on the rule of law. Bonta argued that the list of possible noncitizens is highly unreliable and likely includes many U.S. citizens.

Lower courts in California have already sided with state officials. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter denied the Justice Department’s original request. He warned that segregating ballots would wreak havoc on the midterms and erode trust in the democratic process. Carter said that if the executive can discount votes based on unproven allegations, the democracy is in danger.

A divided appellate panel upheld Carter’s order. One judge appointed by Trump and one appointed by President Joe Biden voted in favor of keeping the ballots in the count. A third judge, also appointed by Trump, dissented. He argued that California’s refusal to separate the ballots encourages the violation of federal law.

Voting in California began in early October. The state mails ballots to all roughly 23 million registered voters. Hundreds of thousands of these ballots have already been processed. Officials say finding and setting aside the 20,000 challenged votes now is too late to do effectively.

The Justice Department has prioritized identifying noncitizen voters this year. Noncitizen voting is rare. The administration has racked up a series of wins in emergency appeals before the Supreme Court during Trump’s second term. The justices previously rejected a separate presidential push to restrict mail ballots ahead of these midterms.