WASHINGTON – The US Justice Department asked an appeals court on Thursday to intervene in an ongoing lawsuit seeking to temporarily block California from counting more than 20,000 mail-in ballots from voters that the Trump administration claims may not be US citizens, Reuters reported, in an article published by WHTC.
Federal lawyers filed the request with the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals prior to a formal ruling from a lower-court judge. According to the reporting, the Justice Department described this unusual procedural step as necessary because US District Judge David Carter had not issued a decision by Thursday afternoon, despite an earlier request from federal attorneys for an expedited ruling.
Court Proceedings and Dispute Background
Judge Carter scheduled a hearing for the following week to evaluate the department’s emergency motion. The administration is seeking to prevent California election officials from tallying ballots submitted by more than 20,000 voters ahead of the November 3 midterm elections until their citizenship status can be formally verified.
Federal attorneys argued that the lack of an immediate ruling amounted to a “constructive denial” of their emergency request. The legal challenge forms part of broader efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to exert increased federal oversight over state-administered voting procedures ahead of congressional elections, even though individual US states retain primary constitutional authority over conducting elections.