The Radical Reading Room

A federal judge on Wednesday, Oct. 28, rejected the Trump administration’s request to stop California from processing ballots from as many as 20,000 people whom the federal government alleged were likely noncitizens. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter warned that segregating ballots during the ongoing election could disrupt voting. More than 3.7 million people had already voted in the state, according to the reports.

The administration had asked Carter to require California to wait before counting the ballots until the voters’ immigration status could be verified. The request followed a federal lawsuit filed in mid-October accusing state election officials of failing to meet a 48-hour deadline to review a list of 20,000 people the administration alleged were likely noncitizens on the voter rolls.

Carter said separating ballots at this stage would require counties to develop new sorting methods and risk disenfranchising voters. He reasoned that the request would have an effect similar to purging voters and would violate the National Voting Rights Act’s prohibition on changes to voter rolls within 90 days of an election. The ruling rejected the government’s demand; it did not determine whether the people named in its allegations were citizens.

The Justice Department said it would immediately appeal. The administration’s stated aim was to hold the ballots until immigration status could be checked, while Carter concluded that segregation itself could harm voters and disrupt an election already underway. The appeal was announced, but the supplied reports do not establish that it had been decided.