Court Rejects DOJ's California Ballot Appeal
The Ninth Circuit rejected DOJ's emergency appeal as premature; the underlying lawsuit remains pending.
Leans Right
· 28 outletsSummary
Updated Oct 26, 8:37pm ETThe Ninth CircuitCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuitfederal appellate court for the western U.S. rejected as premature DOJ's emergency appeal to set aside about 20,000 California mail ballots. The Justice Department had asked courts to isolate ballots tied to people it identified as likely noncitizens and verify citizenship before counting them. In a 2-1 ruling, the appeals court said the district court had not had enough time to consider the request. The ruling did not resolve the lawsuit. DOJ said urgency was needed because processed ballots could become impossible to identify later. California officials said the federal list was unreliable and Washington lacked power to dictate state ballot handling. A district-court hearing remained scheduled for Oct. 27.
Left and right
From the left
Left-leaning outlets framed the defeat as part of a wider federal push into state election systems, with the legal loss showing both overreach and weak evidence. The New York Times emphasized an effort to pressure California while sowing doubt about voter rolls. MS NOW lingered on the gap between broad fraud claims and a low number of prosecutions.
From the right
Right-leaning outlets framed the case as an election-integrity fight slowed by legal barriers, with the risk that suspect ballots could not be separated later. Fox News focused on judges questioning DOJ's authority and the appeals court’s power to step in. The New York Post cited Bill Essayli warning that California’s stance could “corrupt” the election. RedState pointed to charges against foreign nationals as proof the concern was real.
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