A federal judge has denied the Trump administration’s request for an emergency order that would have forced California to set aside mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters whom the Department of Homeland Security has identified as “likely” noncitizens.

In a 26-page opinion, U.S. District Judge David Carter, based in Santa Ana, California, noted that the relief the Department of Justice was seeking was unprecedented in both substance and timing.

“Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch,” Carter wrote.

“In bringing this lawsuit, the Executive would have this Court believe that it reigns as a sole sovereign. But California and its people are sovereign, too,” he continued.

The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal late Wednesday night. Bill Essayli, the top DOJ official in Los Angeles, said at a news conference Tuesday that he expected the case to reach the Supreme Court.

“Every day, more ballots are processed by election officials,” Essayli said in a statement Wednesday night. “This ongoing emergency disenfranchises American citizens through dilution.”

In rejecting the Justice Department’s motion for a temporary restraining order, Carter also rejected the argument that California and Los Angeles County were impeding the federal government’s enforcement of a statute criminalizing noncitizen voting by refusing to use DHS’s database to verify the citizenship of the flagged voters.

Carter noted that the Justice Department announced the prosecution of 28 alleged noncitizens residing in California for election-related crimes on the same day it sought the emergency order.

That demonstrated, Carter reasoned, that the Justice Department has the ability — as well as the power — to enforce federal law. California and the county, he ruled, are not interfering with that ability “by administering an ongoing election in accordance with established State and Federal law, rather than assuming new obligations pursuant to a federal criminal law they are not responsible for enforcing.”

The Justice Department’s lawsuit, filed on Oct. 15, came just days after the federal government first asked California and Los Angeles County to review its list and set aside ballots from people whose citizenship could not be confirmed. The DOJ also sent letters to both the state and the county warning that they could face prosecution if election officials allowed noncitizens to vote.

In his ruling, Carter directed that such threats end immediately.

The opinion also details Carter’s concerns about the reliability of DHS’s database, which an agency official admitted in a sworn declaration was “enhanced” with commercial data sources.

His overriding concern, however, was preventing chaos and protecting public confidence in the democratic process.

“The Executive’s requested relief, however, would wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway, create a chilling effect on election workers and voters alike, and discount the votes of United States citizens,” Carter wrote.

“Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable. Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred. If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger.”

He concluded, “This Court declines to be a party to such process.”

California Attorney General Rob Banta called Wednesday’s ruling a “victory,” but warned the state’s fight continues.

“No administration can disenfranchise thousands of individuals or disrupt an ongoing election based on highly unreliable claims of noncitizenship,” Banta said in a statement. “Today’s ruling is yet another important victory for the rule of law and the right to vote. But this fight is not over. We will keep fighting to protect California’s elections from unlawful federal interference and get this baseless lawsuit dismissed.”

The post Judge denies DOJ demand that California set aside mail ballots from more than 20,000 ‘likely noncitizens’ appeared first on MS NOW.

Author: Source Author

From MS Now.