The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday, October 22, asked a federal appeals court to intervene in its lawsuit seeking to temporarily block California from counting more than 20,000 mail-in ballots from voters the Trump administration alleges are likely not U.S. citizens, Reuters reported.
Source: Reuters via SRN News
The department asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to get involved before the lower-court judge had ruled in the dispute. Justice Department lawyers said the unusual move was necessary because U.S. District Judge David Carter had not made a decision by Thursday afternoon, as the department had requested, and the department said it interpreted the lack of a ruling as a 'constructive denial' of its request, according to Reuters.
Democracy Docket, which reviewed the filing, reported that the department filed its notice of appeal after Judge Carter did not meet a noon deadline the department had set for a ruling on its emergency bid, and that the department acknowledged in its filing that Carter 'has not ruled' but argued that, given what it called the 'critical and exigent nature' of the case, his silence amounts to a constructive denial of its request for preliminary relief.
Source: Democracy Docket
An emergency order blocking California from counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 voters in the November 3 midterm elections until their citizenship status can be verified. The noncitizen claim is the administration's allegation; California disputes it.
Judge Carter has scheduled a hearing for next week to consider the department's request for that emergency order, Reuters reported. The lawsuit itself was filed about a week earlier against California, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan, according to Democracy Docket.
California and Los Angeles County have sharply disputed the department's premise and have asked Judge Carter to dismiss the lawsuit entirely, arguing that the department lacks standing and has no legal authority to use a federal criminal statute against noncitizen voting to force state officials to change how they administer and count ballots, Democracy Docket reported. In the United States, individual states are in charge of running elections, and the case is being closely watched as the administration seeks greater control over next month's elections, which will determine control of Congress.