More than 3.7 million people have already voted in California
More than 3.7 million people have already voted in California, where voting has been underway for weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 Election Day as U.S. voters decide control of Congress. California is one of three states — along with Washington and Alaska — where ballot disputes are underway.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter on Wednesday rejected a Trump administration request to stop California from processing the ballots of up to 20,000 people, warning it would “wreak havoc” on the midterm elections. The decision is the latest legal setback for President Donald Trump in his efforts to expand federal control over state-run elections ahead of voting that will decide control of Congress for the rest of his term.
The Republican administration sued election officials in the Democratic state in mid-October, accusing the officials of failing to meet a 48-hour deadline to review a list of 20,000 names it alleged were likely noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls. The administration had asked the judge to require the state to wait to count those ballots until the voters’ immigration status could be verified.
The federal government also had asked the appeals court for a quick ruling before a district judge’s scheduled Oct. 27 hearing in the case, but that effort was rejected by the higher court.
The Justice Department made a similar request in Washington state this week for the state to sequester ballots submitted by hundreds of people it suspects are not U.S. citizens. A separate lawsuit filed in Alaska last week seeks to delay certification of the vote if the Republican incumbent running for U.S. Senate does not win. All three states have House or Senate races that will help determine the balance of power in Congress.