Follow-Up: Federal Judge Orders Administration to Stop Demanding California Segregate Ballots of More Than 20,000 Voters, Finding Suspect List Flawed

Washington — U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Monday, November 2, ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to stop issuing demands to California election officials that would compel them to segregate ballots cast by voters on federal lists of suspected noncitizens, or otherwise deviate from California's existing election procedures. The ruling came one day before the November 3 midterm elections, which will decide control of both houses of Congress.

Boasberg found that the lists compiled by the administration were flawed and included many people who were wrongly listed as noncitizens. "California may decide for itself what procedures to use for verifying the citizenship of registered voters," he wrote. "The Executive Branch lacks authority to unilaterally impose its preferred procedures." The order also noted that the plaintiffs had identified multiple members who are U.S. citizens but were wrongly included on the federal lists, putting their ballots at risk of being segregated or rejected.

The lawsuit was filed in September by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and a naturalized U.S. citizen, challenging the administration's efforts to pressure California and other states to compare voter rolls against federal databases in search of alleged noncitizen voters. The plaintiffs argued the campaign rested on unsupported claims, risked wrongly targeting naturalized citizens and unlawfully interfered with states' authority to administer elections.

The list, covering more than 20,000 registered California voters, has already produced a string of court fights. The U.S. Department of Justice sued California on October 15 seeking to set the ballots aside; U.S. District Judge David Carter rejected that request on October 28, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit refused the Justice Department's emergency request 2-1 last Friday. On November 2 the department filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court, which remains pending. Boasberg's order arises from a separate lawsuit.

With the order in effect, California election officials may for now keep processing ballots under the state's existing procedures, without setting aside ballots because a voter appears on the federal list. The litigation is continuing, and this story is still developing.

Related: Follow-Up: DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Order California to Set Aside Mail Ballots From More Than 20,000 Voters Pending Citizenship Verification

Related: Follow-Up: DOJ Asks Judge to Consider Contempt for Immigrant Rights Group Over Voter List Analysis

(Source: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia)

Source: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：位于 Washington 的美国哥伦比亚特区联邦地区法院所在的 E. Barrett Prettyman 联邦法院大楼正门（资料图）。G. Edward Johnson 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Front entrance of the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse in Washington, home of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (file photo). By G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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