Federal courts weigh Trump DOJ election suits days before midterms

Eleven States Newsroom sites report Justice Department lawsuits over California and Alaska vote counting, a 9th Circuit procedural setback Monday, and further rulings expected this week.

By Elena Marsh · WhatsNewPaper Desk

4 hr ago8:19 AM

With early voting underway less than a week before Election Day, the Justice Department’s lawsuits against California and Alaska over how ballots are counted and results certified are moving on compressed court calendars, according to identical reporting republished Tuesday by 11 States Newsroom outlets^1,2,3.

The department sued both states in the past two weeks, the outlets reported^1,3. In California it has asked officials to segregate ballots of about 20,000 people it lists as possible noncitizens; it made a similar request covering about 400 people in Washington^1,3. In Alaska it sued to stop certification of the U.S. Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola by a margin smaller than votes for a candidate also named Dan J. Sullivan, and President Donald Trump has said the department acted at his direction^1,4.

On Monday a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling, dismissed the department’s bid for an emergency order in the California case, saying it lacked jurisdiction because DOJ did not give a district judge enough time to rule^1,3. Trump appointee Judge Mark Bennett, concurring, wrote he would also deny the request on the merits, saying the government offered no workable plan to set ballots aside and that whether people on the list are noncitizens is contested^1,8.

U.S. District Judge David Carter, a Clinton appointee, held a hearing Tuesday and said he would rule Wednesday; any decision is expected to be appealed^1,6. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said, “Enforcing federal law increases the integrity of elections”². Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said the administration does not have authority to interfere in the state’s elections¹.

The outlets said the administration has described removing noncitizen voters as a priority and has publicized arrests under a campaign called Operation Protect the Vote, while citing studies that noncitizen voting is rare; they noted that 20,000 names would be about 0.08 percent of California’s nearly 23.2 million registered voters even if all were noncitizens^1,5. The department first cited more than 190,000 possible noncitizen voters in California this summer, filed suit in mid-October, then sought an emergency order on a short deadline^1,7.

Asked Tuesday whether he would respect midterm results, Trump told reporters, “I will if they’re honest”³. On Monday he wrote on Truth Social that Michele Tafoya could lose the Minnesota Senate race only if opponents “cheat by playing games with the Ballots,” the outlets reported⁵.

In Alaska, Peltola’s campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and state election lawyers have asked U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason, an Obama appointee, for a fast ruling, including by Monday^4,9. Assistant Alaska Attorney General Margaret Paton Walsh wrote that the suit “cast a cloud over Alaska’s election”⁴.

The same reporting said the Supreme Court this year blocked proposed mail-ballot restrictions and that other federal courts have blocked DOJ efforts to obtain voter rolls with driver’s license and Social Security numbers^3,10. The outlets described the Purcell principle, under which justices often resist last-minute election changes, and cited an unsigned September opinion in a Missouri map case saying the principle applies with greater force once voting has started^1,11. What Judge Carter rules Wednesday, and whether either case reaches the Supreme Court before certification, is not yet known^1,6.

Sources

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