Ninth Circuit Rejects Emergency California Ballot Bid

A 2-1 Ninth Circuit panel rejected the Trump administration’s emergency request to require California to set aside roughly 20,000 mail ballots cast by voters it suspects may be noncitizens. The court said it lacked jurisdiction to intervene before a district judge had an adequate opportunity to consider the case, and the majority said the Justice Department had partly created the urgency by delaying its lawsuit. The ruling did not decide whether the ballots may ultimately be counted; U.S. District Judge David Carter was scheduled to hear the case Tuesday. The dissent said the federal government had authority to protect election integrity, while California officials said the administration had not provided credible evidence for its claims. The administration had also threatened prosecution of election workers who count ballots cast by people it identifies as ineligible.