Appeals court declines to block California ballot counting

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on October 26 declined the Justice Department’s emergency request to stop California from counting mail ballots linked to about 20,000 people on a federal list of suspected noncitizens, leaving the dispute for a district court to consider. The appeals court said the lower court had not been given an adequate opportunity to review the request. Its decision did not determine whether anyone on the list was ineligible to vote or establish how many people identified on it had returned ballots. The government has not disclosed that number. The Justice Department sued California on October 15, seeking an order requiring the state to separate ballots associated with people on its list and withhold them from counting until their citizenship could be verified. The department alleges the individuals are likely noncitizens. The appellate ruling did not decide the merits of that allegation or the underlying lawsuit. A hearing on the request was scheduled in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for October 27. The appeals court’s action left the request pending before that court; the reports described the hearing as the next...