Follow-Up: DOJ Takes California Ballot Case to the Ninth Circuit, Calling Judge's Inaction a Constructive Denial
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on October 22, asking the appeals court to intervene before the district judge rules in its lawsuit seeking to have California set aside mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters flagged as likely noncitizens. The department said Judge David O. Carter's failure to rule by the deadline it had requested, noon on October 22, amounts to a "constructive denial." According to Reuters, a hearing in the case is set for next week, and docket tracking shows it scheduled for Friday, October 30, at 8:30 a.m.
The case stems from the Justice Department's October 15 lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (United States v. State of California, No. 2:26-cv-12025), naming California, Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean C. Logan as defendants. The department wants mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters, flagged through comparisons run by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' SAVE system, segregated and counted only after citizenship is verified for the November 3 midterm elections, citing 18 U.S.C. 611(a). The case was reassigned to Judge Carter on October 21.
Both sides have already traded arguments. Attorney General Todd Blanche said when the suit was announced that state-sponsored voter fraud is unacceptable in America. California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office, in its October 20 opposition filing, called the department's request nearly frivolous, saying it was reckless political theater at best and, at worst, would disenfranchise thousands of Californians. The two sides cite different figures: the Justice Department says the list covers more than 20,000 people statewide, while Los Angeles County says its share of the list contains only 7,035 addresses, including duplicates and canceled registrations; a county review of about 200 sampled names found 25.8 percent had a U.S. birthplace on file, most had never voted, and more than half of the registrations were canceled or inactive, and Assistant Registrar Monica Flores called the list unreliable.
Earlier GSM coverage: California Ballot Case Reassigned to Judge David Carter
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 San Francisco 的美国联邦第九巡回上诉法院总部 James R. Browning 联邦法院大楼东立面。Carol M. Highsmith 摄，美国国会图书馆藏，公共领域，经维基共享资源。Photo: East facade of the James R. Browning U.S. Court of Appeals Building in San Francisco, headquarters of the Ninth Circuit. By Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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- 2026-10-22Follow-Up: DOJ Takes California Ballot Case to the Ninth Circuit, Calling Judge's Inaction a Constructive DenialThis story
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