Appeals Court Rejects Trump Bid to Impound 20,000 California Ballots as Judge Blocks DOJ Threats
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 30
Appeals Court Rejects Trump Bid to Impound 20,000 California Ballots as Judge Blocks DOJ Threats
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 30
Summary
A federal appeals panel again refused to order California to segregate more than 20,000 mail ballots, saying the administration’s request would violate the Constitution and intrude on state control of elections.
The judges said the Justice Department’s evidence of possible noncitizen voting was unreliable and that any change to vote-by-mail rules should go through Congress, not the courts, days before Tuesday’s midterms.
Late Friday, a federal judge in San Francisco separately barred the Justice Department from threatening election officials with prosecution or coercing them to halt ballot processing based only on suspicions about citizenship.
The twin rulings undercut a broader Trump administration push to challenge ballot handling in California and other states as Republicans face tight races, though the administration could still seek Supreme Court intervention.