Ninth Circuit blocks federal move on ballots

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the Trump administration's request to set aside approximately 20,000 California mail ballots on Sunday. The three-judge panel voted 2-1 to deny the emergency appeal, ruling that the federal government does not yet have jurisdiction because the underlying district court case has not been fully adjudicated.

The decision places the dispute back in the hands of Judge David Carter, the federal district court judge assigned to the case. Carter is scheduled to hear arguments on the matter on Tuesday afternoon. This timeline gives the federal government a narrow window to force California to separate the contested votes before the November 3 election.

Judge Mark Bennett, writing for the majority, argued that the urgency cited by the Trump administration was partly self-created. He noted that the federal government was aware of California's mail ballot processing laws and the state's large voter registry well before filing its initial request for help on October 21, 2026. Bennett stated that the U.S. had the necessary information to seek relief much earlier than the date it actually did.

The majority opinion pointed out that the United States had objected to California voter lists as early as July 16, 2026. A letter sent to the California Secretary of State on that date cited a preliminary analysis of the state's voter rolls. Bennett emphasized that neither the California law allowing ballots to be processed 29 days before an election nor the law governing mail ballot issuance to registered voters is new.

Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented from the majority's decision. He wrote that the federal government holds a sovereign interest in protecting federal elections and ensuring that non-citizen votes do not alter results. Bumatay argued that federal law prevents California from mixing ballots likely cast by foreigners with legitimate votes. He described halting that practice for individuals identified as probable non-citizens as the minimum necessary step.

The legal battle centers on whether California must segregate these specific ballots to prevent what the federal government calls the dilution of citizen votes. The district court will now determine if the federal government's claims hold up under existing state and federal election statutes.