Judge halts CA ballot segregation plan

20,000 potential voters in California will have their ballots counted despite a federal bid to hold them pending citizenship checks. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter issued the order on Wednesday, rejecting a request from the Trump administration to stop the state from processing votes for individuals listed on a federal noncitizen suspect list.

The decision arrives with more than 3.7 million Californians having already cast ballots. Over 500,000 of those votes have been counted so far. The administration filed the lawsuit in mid-October, claiming state election officials missed a 48-hour deadline to review the 20,000-person list. The Justice Department argued that waiting to count these specific ballots until immigration status was verified was necessary to protect the election.

Judge Carter wrote that the federal request would "wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway." He warned the move would create a chilling effect on both election workers and voters. The judge also stated the action would discount the votes of United States citizens. His order called the demand a forceful rebuke, noting that segregating ballots now would force counties to develop new sorting methods.

The ruling cites the National Voting Rights Act, which bars changes to voter rolls within 90 days of an election. Carter argued that segregating ballots has the same practical effect as purging voters. He stated that the process risks disenfranchising an untold number of voters. Carter wrote, "Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable. Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred."

The federal government also sought a quick ruling from the appeals court before the district judge's scheduled hearing on October 27. The higher court rejected that effort. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, who argued for the federal government on Tuesday, said the request was designed to preserve the status quo. He maintained that segregating a ballot does not prevent it from being counted later and prevents the infection of the election with illegal ballots.

Similar legal actions are underway in other states. The Justice Department filed a request in Washington state this week to sequester ballots from hundreds of suspected noncitizens. In Alaska, a lawsuit filed last week seeks to delay vote certification if the Republican Senate incumbent does not win. All three states hold House or Senate races that will influence the balance of power in Congress.

Carter also rejected the argument that California was impeding federal law enforcement. He noted that federal prosecutors had already arrested 28 noncitizens who voted or registered to vote illegally. Federal prosecutors did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment on Wednesday evening. The administration's lawsuit represents the latest legal setback for the president's efforts to expand federal control over state-run elections.