US court rules against Trump administration in California voting case

What the report says

A US appeals court has ruled against the Trump administration in a dispute over California’s ballot counting process, according to Al Jazeera. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals declined to block the state from tabulating roughly 20,000 mailed ballots that federal officials had sought to sequester before the November 3 midterm election. The administration had argued the ballots were linked to people it believed were likely non-citizens, but the article says it has not publicly explained how that list was assembled or how those voters were deemed ineligible.

In a two-to-one decision, the court said the government had not allowed enough time for lower courts to consider the matter. The majority also emphasized that election administration is generally a state responsibility under the US Constitution. One judge wrote that federal intervention at that stage could create confusion for voters and election workers. The case remains active in a lower court, where a hearing was scheduled for Tuesday.

Al Jazeera reported that the lawsuit was filed on October 15, less than three weeks before the midterm vote, and came amid Trump’s repeated claims that California’s elections are vulnerable to cheating. California officials rejected the allegations and described the case as an attempt to interfere with the voting process. The broader context is a series of Justice Department actions in multiple states over voter-roll access, many of which have been unsuccessful, and a wider debate over alleged non-citizen voting, which experts say is rare.