Ninth Circuit Rejects DOJ Bid to Set Aside California Ballots

A 2-1 Ninth Circuit panel on Friday rejected the Justice Department’s renewed emergency request to make California set aside ballots linked to more than 20,000 people the administration alleges may be noncitizens, leaving the state’s current election procedures in place. The department sought an order requiring California and Los Angeles County to separate ballots associated with people on a federal list and hold them until their citizenship could be verified. The majority said the government had not shown that existing law authorized it to impose the requested procedure. If different rules for handling mail ballots are needed, the judges said, the matter should be taken to Congress rather than the courts. The ruling did not establish how many people on the list submitted ballots or determine that any listed person is a noncitizen. Federal law bars noncitizens from voting in federal elections, but the dispute concerns the reliability of the list and whether the federal government can require California to change its ballot procedures during an election. The majority cited the risk that changing procedures while ballots were being processed could disrupt election administration...