Judge tells DOJ to indict voters instead of freezing ballots
A Los Angeles federal judge signaled he will deny the Trump administration's request to hold 20,000 mail ballots, giving state officials until December 3 to resolve the dispute.
By Lauren Bello ·
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter told federal officials on Tuesday to stop asking the court to pause the election and instead bring criminal charges if they suspect non-citizens voted. The judge is expected to rule by Wednesday on the Justice Department's emergency motion to set aside 20,000 mail ballots in Los Angeles County. He indicated he will likely deny the request for a temporary restraining order.
Carter told prosecutors, "You've got a remedy for goodness sake. Go out and indict." He noted that election officials have until December 3 to certify results, which gives them enough time to handle the issue without a last-minute court intervention. The judge also warned that threats against state and county election employees should cease immediately. He referred to comments made by federal prosecutors suggesting officials could face criminal penalties if they continued counting the disputed ballots.
The three-hour hearing took place in downtown Los Angeles federal court. Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in the region, argued the government has credible evidence that the 20,000 individuals on the list are non-citizens. He claimed Secretary of State Shirley Weber and County Clerk Dean Logan allowed lawful and unlawful ballots to become mixed. Essayli said his team used specific methods to prove these suspicions.
State attorneys disagreed with the federal approach. Michael Cohen, an attorney for California, told the judge that the prosecutor's office relied on data and methods known to be unreliable. Weber and Logan argued in their filings that they lack the legal authority and mechanisms to freeze mail ballots while citizenship is verified. The county's motion stated that ballots are already mailed, returned, and being processed. It argued the government is asking the court to interrupt that work based on an unreliable list.
A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to hear the administration's emergency appeal on Monday. In a 2-1 decision, the judges sent the case back to Carter. Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, questioned how a federal court could issue an injunction that conflicts with laws adopted by the California Legislature. He noted that Congress and the state legislature have set the rules for who can vote, and the lawsuit challenges how those rules are applied rather than the rules themselves.
Governor Gavin Newsom welcomed the appellate decision in a statement Monday. He called it a speed bump to what he described as attacks on the Constitution and urged Californians to participate in the election. Attorney General Rob Bonta said the president overstepped his authority by ordering the state to purge voter rolls. Bonta emphasized that the Constitution gives states and Congress, not the executive branch, the power to determine the time, place, and manner of elections.
The Justice Department had appealed the case before Carter issued his ruling, arguing that missing a requested deadline was a constructive denial. All three appellate judges expressed concern about the timing. The lawsuit, United States of America v. State of California, is assigned to the same judge who previously dismissed a DOJ bid to force California to turn over its full voter registration list. The department has sued 30 states over voter data and has lost the majority of those cases so far.
