A federal judge on Wednesday declined a Justice Department request to stop California from counting the votes of over 20,000 people the government identified as potential noncitizen voters.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ruled that the government’s request to segregate a tranche of ballots was delivered too late in the elections process and that their attempts to isolate noncitizen voters lacked credibility, potentially leading to erroneously disenfranchised voters.
“This Court will not deprive Californians who have met the requirements for voter registration of their fundamental right because of Plaintiff’s unfounded allegations,” Carter wrote.
California and the Justice Department have been in a legal back-and-forth over alleged noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls since July, when the Department of Homeland Security said it had identified 190,832 potential noncitizen voters on California’s rolls.
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By October, that number was lowered to 20,000 names, which were sent in a list to the Los Angeles County clerk on a password-protected thumb drive. California election officials were instructed to hold on to the ballots of people listed or set aside completed ballots submitted by people on the thumb drive until their citizenship could be verified.
At a hearing Tuesday, the DOJ asked the court to force California to set aside the ballots of any person identified on the list it shared with county officials in October, while the state wanted the judge to effectively stop the Justice Department from interfering with the state’s election administration.
The Justice Department had charged 28 people with noncitizen registration or voting in California, and it has continued to make publicized arrests as a part of “Operation Protect the Vote.”
Carter told the DOJ, in reference to the arrests made in California of alleged noncitizens in October, that it can continue to charge noncitizens but cannot tell California how to count or not count certain ballots.
Attorneys for California said they had heard the Justice Department had threatened election officials with criminal prosecution if they tabulated the ballots of those on this list.
After a short recess, Carter said at the hearing’s conclusion, “This court believes it would be wise that any threats to state and county elected employees cease immediately.”
Attorneys for the state also said there are no state laws or regulations in California that allow ballots to be segregated without informing a voter. County officials would have to review ballots by hand and not process them.
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