DOJ Drops Bid to Toss 20,000 California Ballots After 4 Court Defeats
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Nov 7
DOJ Drops Bid to Toss 20,000 California Ballots After 4 Court Defeats
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Nov 7
Summary
The Justice Department on Friday formally dismissed its lawsuit seeking to force California to set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots allegedly cast by noncitizens.
Four court losses drove the retreat: Judge David O. Carter rejected the request, two appeals failed, and the Supreme Court denied the administration’s emergency bid on election eve.
Federal officials had built the case from database cross-checks they said identified likely noncitizens, but California argued the list was outdated, error-ridden and included eligible citizens whose votes would be wrongly discarded.
The filing said the requested relief was tied to the Nov. 3 election and was no longer available, closing a high-profile Trump administration challenge to state vote counting after broader claims of noncitizen voting were repeatedly rejected.