Local Politics · Los Angeles County
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday rejected the Trump administration's request to force California and Los Angeles County to segregate ballots from approximately 20,000 voters the Justice Department suspects may not be U.S. citizens. The majority ruled the federal government lacked authority to compel such action and questioned the accuracy of the underlying voter list. The decision upheld a Wednesday ruling by U.S. District Judge David Carter, who warned against coercing state election procedures on the eve of an election. A special master was appointed to evaluate the government's list, while separate cases in Oakland and San Jose addressed related investigative and prosecution threats.
Local Politics
The Service Employees International Union filed a federal lawsuit in San Jose on Thursday challenging Justice Department threats of criminal prosecution against California election workers who process ballots from individuals on a list of potential noncitizens. The complaint, joined by the League of United Latin American Citizens and the NAACP, asks the court to declare the government's actions voter intimidation and a violation of states' constitutional authority over elections. Multiple federal courts rejected the administration's attempts to force California to set aside approximately 20,000 ballots from people on the list, with the 9th Circuit upholding those rulings in a 2-1 decision on Friday. The Justice Department defended its actions as enforcing federal law prohibiting noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
Local Politics · Los Angeles County
At least four California election workers received federal grand jury subpoenas in late October, including one delivered to the Orange County Voter Registration Office on Thursday requesting uncensored records for 60 individuals. The subpoenas continued despite a written order issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter directing federal prosecutors to cease threatening election employees with criminal charges. In Los Angeles County, three Registrar's Office employees were subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury on November 4, the day after midterm elections. Federal prosecutors in California have also charged 28 people for registering to vote without citizenship, representing approximately 0.0001% of the state's 23 million registered voters.
