Election Law: Appeals Court Gets Emergency Bid

The Justice Department filed an emergency appeal to stop California from counting roughly 20,000 disputed ballots.

First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli announced the move on Wednesday evening. The department asked the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene immediately.

US District Judge David O. Carter in Los Angeles had rejected the earlier request to sequester the votes. Carter ruled that separating the ballots would cause lasting harm to the electoral process.

"Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable," Carter wrote in his order. "Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred." He added that the court declined to join the dispute.

The legal conflict began with a 2-1 ruling by a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit on Monday. That panel denied the government's initial emergency appeal. Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez voted against the administration. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented, warning that processed ballots become impossible to identify.

"Those questionable ballots are now rolling in," Bumatay wrote. He argued the federal government should have been granted relief to stop what he described as illegal voting.

The lawsuit targets nearly 20,000 names flagged as suspected noncitizens. The administration accuses state officials of missing a 48-hour review deadline. Prosecutors recently charged 28 people with fraudulently registering to vote in California.

One defendant is Alexander Muñoz, a 72-year-old Belizean national. Prosecutors say he claimed US citizenship when registering in September 2019. They allege he voted in 2020, twice in 2022, and again in 2024.

The department argues that once the disputed ballots mix into the total count, officials may not be able to separate them. This sets up an urgent decision before the election next week.