By admin 
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A federal judge in California has rejected the Justice Department’s push for an emergency order to have California segregate roughly 20,000 ballots belonging to individuals the Trump administration has claimed are “likely” non-citizens.
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The judge warns it would “wreak havoc” on midterm elections. The ruling comes as more than 3.7 million people have already voted in the state.
“Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch,” Judge David Carter wrote in his Wednesday order. “In bringing this lawsuit, the Executive would have this Court believe that it reigns as a sole sovereign. But California and its people are sovereign, too.”
In a , Carter repeatedly points to previous instances in American history of government officials seeking to deprive citizens of their right to vote — which he suggests lay the foundation for the Trump administration’s last-ditch effort to interfere in California’s election.
“Every generation in our history has witnessed repeated clashes between those who seek to limit access to the ballot and those who fight to ensure it. In this case, the federal government seeks to segregate and exclude over 20,000 ballots. This request violates longstanding constitutional principles mandating that states have control over their elections. If Plaintiff’s last-minute request for relief were granted, either party could create chaos for their own political purposes to disrupt the election process. Over 20,000 registered Californians would potentially lose the right that generations of Americans have fought to preserve.”
“The Government’s Application for Temporary Restraining Order is DENIED.”
Prosecutors for the Justice Department said they would immediately appeal the decision.
The decision is the latest legal setback for President Donald Trump in his efforts to expand federal control over state-run elections ahead of voting that will decide control of Congress for the rest of his term.
The Republican administration sued election officials in the Democratic state in mid-October, accusing the officials of failing to meet a 48-hour deadline to review a list of 20,000 people it alleged were likely noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls. The administration had asked the judge to require the state to wait to count those ballots until the voters’ immigration status could be verified.
The Justice Department made a similar request in Washington state this week for the state to sequester ballots submitted by hundreds of people it suspects are not U.S. citizens. Meanwhile, another lawsuit filed in Alaska last week seeks to delay certification of the vote if the Republican incumbent running for U.S. Senate doesn’t win. All three states have House or Senate races that will help determine the balance of power in Congress.
Judge says Justice Department’s request violates civil rights laws
Carter’s order was a forceful rebuke of the federal government’s demand, arguing that segregating ballots at this time in the election would require counties to develop new methods for sorting ballots and “risk disenfranchising an untold number of voters.” In other words, Carter argued, it would have the same effect as purging voters and therefore violates the National Voting Rights Act, which prohibits changes to voter rolls within 90 days of an election.
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“Constitutional rights and our democracy are at stake. The public interest favors their protection. Individuals who have met the requirements of California’s voter registration laws must not be deprived of a core right merely because of unfounded allegations stemming from a procedure rife with uncertainty and errors. The public interest also favors the protection of election staff, who are working diligently to ensure that all citizens can cast their votes,” the judge’s order continued.
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Federal judge denies Trump administration’s request to segregate 20,000 ballots in California
“The Executive’s requested relief, however, would wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway, create a chilling effect on election workers and voters alike, and discount the votes of United States citizens. The Executive Branch cannot replace the remedy Congress carefully enacted with its own unlawful and unconstitutional solution instead. Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable. Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred. If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger. This Court declines to be a party to such process.”
California mails ballots to all 23 million registered voters. Court filings show over 500,000 ballots had already been processed by this week, meaning their envelopes had been verified and the ballots removed. That would make it virtually impossible to know which ballot belonged to a particular voter, Los Angeles county officials have testified.
Justice Department will appeal decision
The federal government said it would file an appeal in the case for the second time on Wednesday evening. The USA’s first appeal was denied by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, since it preempted the district court’s decision. Two of the three judges also expressed overwhelming skepticism about the merits of the lawsuit itself.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli doubled down on the lawsuit’s arguments Wednesday.
“Every day, more ballots are processed by election officials,” Essayli wrote on social media following the ruling. “This ongoing emergency disenfranchises American citizens through dilution.”
Essayli, who argued on behalf of the federal government on Tuesday, has previously said the federal government’s request wouldn’t impede the election. Instead, he argued that the Justice Department was trying to prevent the “dilution” of the vote with noncitizen voters.
“Segregating a ballot does not prevent it from being counted later,” Essayli said. “It is designed to preserve the status quo and prevent the infection of our election with illegal ballots.”
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.