Appeals court declines to block California from counting 20,000 disputed ballots

LOS ANGELES (AP) – An appeals court on Monday declined to rule on whether California elections authorities can count roughly 20, 000 ballots that the Justice Department alleges probable belong to noncitizen voters.

What happened

Meanwhile, the 2-1 decision sets the Trump administration and state authorities up for another legal showdown on the matter on Tuesday in front of a federal district judge, giving the federal administration a particularly short window to compel California to sequester votes before the Nov. 3 elections.

Meanwhile, the decision marks the latest in a string of legal setbacks for President Donald Trump's administration as it seeks to assert greater federal control over state-run elections. Although available data indicates it is exceedingly rare, noncitizen voting has been a central focus of Trump's political messaging for years.

Although the panel primarily ruled it was premature for an appeals court to obtain involved, two of the three judges additionally wrote separate concurrences making it clear they wouldn't backing setting aside ballots at this late date. They questioned the accuracy of the federal government's list of alleged noncitizen voters and argued that to set aside votes risks disenfranchising citizens.

The bottom line

In short, appeals court declines to block California from counting 20, 000 disputed ballots is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.