DOJ Moves to Block Counting of 20,000 Disputed Ballots in California

The Trump administration is demanding an emergency court order to stop California from counting ballots linked to more than 20,000 suspected non-citizens, warning that once the votes are mixed up, there may be no way to undo the operation.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli and Attorney General Todd Blanche are leading the Justice Department’s effort to have the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals force California to void contested mail-in ballots and verify voters’ citizenship before counting them.

“With every minute that passes, the votes of American citizens are diluted in the state of California,” Essayli said Thursday. “This is an emergency and we expect the courts to treat it as such.”

The DOJ says it has identified more than 20,000 people registered to vote in California who received mail-in ballots and are considered highly likely to be noncitizens.

Federal law prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections, and the government says some people have already been criminally charged over allegations of illegal registration and voting.

“We are not asking California to take drastic action other than confiscating the ballots of suspected non-citizens,” Essayli told Fox News. “We think it’s a minimum of 20,000. That’s the floor.”

The emergency motion warns that Los Angeles County has already processed more than 331,000 mail-in ballots.

Once election workers separate ballots from their envelopes, the government claims, identifying individual voters becomes impossible — making it essential to separate potentially ineligible ballots before they are counted.

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The administration is asking the appeals court to order California to segregate ballots and verify citizenship before counting. He is asking for a decision by Saturday, October 24.

The petition names California, Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, and Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/Clerk Dean C. Logan as defendants. California and Weber oppose the request.

The appeal follows U.S. District Judge David O. Carter’s failure to rule on the administration’s emergency request within the established deadline.

The DOJ says the delay effectively denied its request for immediate relief.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said California is following applicable federal election laws.