A federal appeals court has ordered California election officials to answer by noon Saturday a Justice Department request to set aside about 20,000 mail-in ballots sent to people the government says are likely noncitizens.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued the order late Friday, Fox News reported. The Justice Department went to the appeals court after U.S. District Judge David Carter did not rule by the deadline the department had asked for.
What the Justice Department wants
The department wants ballots tied to the people on its list kept apart from other ballots while their eligibility is reviewed. It is not asking the court to throw those ballots out.
- The lawsuit: The Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security sued California on Oct. 15. The complaint names the state, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan.
- The list: Federal officials say Homeland Security Investigations and its partners flagged more than 20,000 registered California voters as likely noncitizens. Under state law, every registered voter is mailed a ballot.
- The filing: “This is an emergency,” the department wrote in the request signed by Attorney General Todd Blanche and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, according to Fox News.
“We’re not asking California to take any drastic steps other than to sequester the ballots from the suspected noncitizens,” Essayli told Fox News earlier in the week. He called 20,000 “the floor.”
California’s response so far
California officials have refused the department’s demands. In court papers, they said county election offices do not have the authority or the federal records needed to check a voter’s citizenship.
They also said some ballots can no longer be pulled. Once a signature is verified, the ballot is separated from its envelope and counted with the rest. Court records show Los Angeles County alone has processed 331,000 ballots, Fox News reported.
What happens next
Judge Carter still has a hearing set for Tuesday. It is not clear whether the appeals court will rule before then. The general election is Nov. 3.
The dispute has grown for more than a week. iSEARK.com has covered the Justice Department’s warning to election workers and the illegal-voting charges against 28 green card holders who were on the federal list.
In Southeast Arkansas, early voting for the same Nov. 3 election continues at county sites. Times and places are in iSEARK.com’s early voting guide.
Sources: Fox News; U.S. Department of Justice.
