DOJ Presses Ninth Circuit to Set Aside 20,000 California Ballots

The Justice Department urged a federal appeals court on Sunday to order California to set aside roughly 20,000 mail ballots tied to voters the Trump administration believes are likely noncitizens, but two of the three judges hearing the emergency appeal signaled skepticism, according to the Los Angeles Times, CNN and The Hill.

The rare weekend hearing before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ended without a ruling, the Los Angeles Times reported, with a decision expected soon given the emergency nature of the appeal. A federal district court is set to take up the case on Tuesday, according to The Hill.

NOW: Trump and California attorneys just argued for nearly two hours before three 9th Circuit Judges about alleged non-citizens on CA voter rolls. US Govt is asking the 9th circuit panel to making a ruling "ASAP," arguing every day that goes by, hundreds of thousands CA ballots…

— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) October 25, 2026

DOJ: “California isn’t interested”

Justice Department attorney Matthew Donnelly told the panel that both federal criminal law and California election law bar noncitizens from voting, but “the problem is that California isn’t interested in enforcing that provision,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

Donnelly argued the administration is not asking the court to throw out any votes, only to set aside the flagged ballots so the government can question them, CNN reported. He pointed the judges to sworn declarations from Department of Homeland Security officials describing how the list was assembled, according to CNN and The Hill.

The urgency, the department argues, comes from the count itself. Los Angeles County alone has already processed 331,000 mail ballots, according to court filings cited by The Hill. In its filings, the administration argued that once a mail ballot is removed from its envelope, there is “no way to associate the voter with the ballot,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

A skeptical panel

Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, questioned whether the court had jurisdiction before the lower court ruled. “I don’t see how we have jurisdiction,” Bennett said, according to The Hill. He also said California has the right to determine the manner of its elections under the Constitution’s Elections Clause, CNN reported.

Judge Gabriel Sanchez, a Biden appointee, pressed the government on where its data came from. “You were not able to explain who these third parties are that form some part in the chain of analysis over this list,” Sanchez said, according to The Hill. Donnelly said the list had been purchased from the state, CNN reported.

The third judge, Trump appointee Patrick Bumatay, appeared the most sympathetic to the administration, according to The Hill. Bumatay said during the hearing that it is not extraordinary to ask California to verify a voter’s citizenship, according to The Hill. CNN reported that Bumatay also asked whether California would ever be able to learn if noncitizens voted if the ballots are processed without an injunction.

California pushes back

California Deputy Solicitor General Samuel Siegel argued there was “nothing” for the appeals court to review because the lower court had not yet ruled, the Los Angeles Times reported. Siegel told the panel the federal data was badly outdated and argued the Justice Department was asking the court to cut short a democratic process already underway, according to CNN.

Responding to Bumatay, Siegel said the request was extraordinary “in the manner that the federal government is asking for here,” according to The Hill.

Part of a wider push

The California case is one of several election lawsuits the administration has filed as the Nov. 3 midterms approach, according to The Hill. The Justice Department also sent letters to county election offices across California on Friday demanding that they segregate ballots from voters the administration believes are not citizens, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Fox News correspondent Matt Finn reported on X that government lawyers asked the panel to rule “ASAP.” For now, the 20,000 flagged ballots remain in California’s normal count while the courts decide whether the federal government can step in before Election Day.

Sources

• Los Angeles Times
• CNN
• The Hill
• Matt Finn (Fox News) on X

Reporting by Daily Beltway.