Judge rejects bid to set aside 20,000 California ballots

A federal judge on October 28 denied the Justice Department’s emergency request to make California set aside ballots associated with roughly 20,000 people flagged by the federal government as possible noncitizens, leaving the state’s election procedures in place while the lawsuit continues. U.S. District Judge David Carter rejected the request for a temporary restraining order, which would have required officials to segregate ballots while voters’ citizenship was checked. The figure refers to people identified on a federal list, not a confirmed count of noncitizens who voted. The reports do not establish that everyone named on the list cast a ballot. Carter said the proposed intervention could disrupt an election already underway, discourage voters and election workers, and risk excluding eligible citizens’ votes. He also found that the Justice Department had not justified emergency relief by showing that California’s continued ballot processing prevented federal enforcement of laws against noncitizen voting. The department could investigate and prosecute specific alleged violations, he wrote. A declaration from Los Angeles County Assistant Registrar Recorder Aman Bhullar,...