Trump Administration Loses Emergency Bid Over 20K California Ballots — For Now

LOS ANGELES, CA — A federal appeals court Monday refused to consider the Trump administration's emergency bid for a temporary restraining order seeking to purge more than 20,000 "likely" non-citizens from California's voter rolls in the days before the midterms until a Los Angeles federal judge rules Tuesday.

In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found Monday that it could not hear the 11th-hour appeal because the lower court overseeing the lawsuit against the state and Los Angeles County hadn't yet issued a ruling.

The ruling sent the case back to U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday. Carter previously said he would rule "promptly" following arguments in downtown Los Angeles.

The judge previously dismissed a U.S. Justice Department bid to force California to turn over its full voter registration list to the federal government.

Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the appellate ruling.

"Today's ruling is a positive development and a welcome speed bump to Trump's disgusting attacks on the Constitution and our country's democracy," Newsom said in a statement. "I have been sounding the alarm since last year, when Trump illegally federalized the California National Guard — Trump is illegally trying to seize powers in the Constitution entrusted to others so he can stay in power. This lawsuit is just the latest step.

"Make no mistake: Trump's assault on democracy won't slow down," Newsom continued. "Each and every one of us can do something: participate in democracy, don't become disillusioned. Vote early, go to a vote center, put your ballot in a dropbox. If everyone who cares about democracy participates, this election won't be close — and none of Trump's lies or conspiracy theories will be able to call that result, and the will of people, into doubt.

"California is fighting back. And we are calling on all Californians to do the same."

Government prosecutors have sued 30 states that refused to turn over voter data, losing the majority of cases so far.

At a rare Sunday session, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit indicated that it saw serious problems with the administration's demand for immediate action to separate any vote-by-mail ballots submitted by voters on a 20,000-person list of suspected non-citizens.

"It seems to me you want us to issue an injunction that is entirely inconsistent with the law the California Legislature has adopted," Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, said at the appellate hearing. "How can we do that?"

"Congress and the California Legislature have said non-citizens can't vote. This lawsuit is about, `We don't like the way you're sorting citizens from non-citizens.' I just don't see (federal law) telling California how to do the sorting."

All three judges expressed concerns that the DOJ had appealed too quickly on Thursday — before Carter had made a decision in the matter.

The pre-emptive strike was filed with the 9th Circuit after Carter failed to meet a deadline the department had requested for a ruling. Federal prosecutors said in the filing that Carter's apparent unwillingness to meet the deadline amounts to a "constructive denial" of the DOJ's request for preliminary relief.

Attorney General Rob Bonta said Monday that Trump had overstepped his authority by ordering that the state purge its voter rolls.

"The U.S. Constitution gives states and Congress — not the President or the Executive Branch — the power to determine the time, place, and manner of elections," Bonta said in a statement. "The court's order serves as an important step in our efforts to protect Californians' right to vote and our state's authority to run fair and secure elections. All the evidence — counts, recounts, hand counts, audits — shows that voter fraud is exceedingly rare.

"Consistent with federal law, California has safeguards in place to protect election integrity and those who break the law should be held accountable. We will fight back against the Administration's unlawful overreach at every turn."

In opposition to the DOJ's attempt to have election officials set aside the allegedly suspect ballots, defendants Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan contend they lack both the mechanisms and the legal authority to freeze mail ballots in the November election until the voters' citizenship can be verified.

Any alleged evidence suggesting that tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles County are unlawfully registered to vote is entirely "unreliable," according to the county's opposition to the TRO request.

"Voting is already underway in Los Angeles County," according to the motion. "Ballots have been mailed, returned and processed, and election officials are working toward fixed deadlines for counting and certification. Plaintiff United States of America, through the Department of Justice ... now asks this court to interrupt that work and enjoin the withholding of 20,000 registered California voters' ballots pending investigation based solely on an unreliable voter roll maintenance list."

According to Weber's office, federal officials claimed in July that California had 190,000 non-citizens on its voter rolls, but when her office asked for proof of their claims, "They refused and provided California with nothing."

The Trump administration has long asserted that large numbers of non- citizens were casting ballots in California and elsewhere, although officials have never provided any proof or documentation of such sweeping fraud.

In its request for an immediate ruling on the TRO request, federal prosecutors wrote that time was of the essence.

As the defendants "continue processing ballots that cannot later be segregated or verified for eligibility, the dilution of lawful votes accelerates in real time," according to the motion.

"This is an emergency," DOJ lawyers wrote. "Every minute of processing that occurs without segregating the ballots of suspected non- eligible voters causes untraceable disenfranchisement and dilution of the votes of United States citizens."

By Fred Shuster, City News Service