A federal appeals court Monday evening dismissed the Trump administration’s emergency appeal seeking to require California to set aside mail ballots associated with more than 20,000 people the government suspects are noncitizens or illegal immigrants ineligible to vote.
In a 2-1 order, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found it lacked jurisdiction because the Department of Justice had not given the district court adequate time to consider its request. The panel denied the department’s emergency motion as moot.
“The United States’s claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one,” the majority wrote.
U.S. Circuit Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez concluded that U.S. District Judge David Carter’s failure to rule within the administration’s suddenly accelerated deadline did not amount to an appealable denial. Bennett was appointed by President Donald Trump, and Sanchez was appointed by former President Joe Biden.
The department twice requested relief by Nov. 3 before demanding, shortly before 9 p.m. Oct. 21, a ruling by noon the following day. That gave Carter roughly 15 hours, including just three business hours, the majority noted.
Carter, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, had already scheduled a Tuesday hearing, a week before the government’s original deadline, and committed to ruling promptly afterward.
U.S. Circuit Judge Patrick Bumatay, a Trump appointee, dissented, arguing that the court had jurisdiction and should intervene because ballots become untraceable once processed and mixed together. He would have directed Carter to bar officials from commingling ballots associated with people on the federal list.
The department sued California on Oct. 15, arguing that officials were facilitating unlawful noncitizen voting by failing to verify the flagged voters’ citizenship before counting their ballots.
California and Los Angeles County dispute the list’s reliability and the government’s authority to compel the proposed review. They also argue that the requested intervention would conflict with voter protections.
Monday’s dismissal leaves the underlying lawsuit pending before Carter. The majority emphasized that proceedings would continue and that either side could seek appellate review after the district court acts.
DOJ SUES CALIFORNIA OVER ALLEGED NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLLS
It is not immediately clear if the department plans to seek Supreme Court relief.
The Washington Examiner contacted the DOJ for a response.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
