A federal judge denied the Justice Department’s request for a temporary restraining order to separate 20,000 California ballots the government said were mailed to suspected non-citizens, according to The Gateway Pundit. The outlet attributed the ruling to U.S. District Judge David Carter and said he issued a 26-page order on Wednesday evening.
What the judge said
The Gateway Pundit reports that Judge Carter wrote, “There is a clear remedy available. The United States can prosecute individuals according to Section 611, as it has historically and recently done. California also has established procedures to cancel the voter registrations of any individuals proven ineligible.”
According to the same report, the judge added that the Justice Department’s requested relief “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.” The outlet also quoted the order: “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.”
What DOJ alleged
The Gateway Pundit said the Justice Department sued California and Los Angeles County over what it described as roughly 20,000 suspected non-citizens on the voter rolls who had already been mailed ballots. The outlet reported First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the review compared voter rolls with immigration, Social Security, and passport records.
Before the ruling, Essayli wrote on X that the department sought a court order “to separate the suspected 20,000 noncitizen ballots from lawful ballots,” arguing that segregation “is designed to preserve the status quo and prevent the infection of our election with illegal ballots.”
Procedural back-and-forth
Per The Gateway Pundit, the Ninth Circuit denied a government appeal on Monday because the Justice Department had improperly bypassed the district court. The department then appeared before Judge Carter on Tuesday. The outlet reported that, before issuing his decision, Carter warned Essayli that it would be “wise that ‘any threats’ to California elected employees ‘cease immediately.’”
Context and attribution
Judge Carter is described by The Gateway Pundit as a Clinton appointee. This article relies on that outlet’s reporting and its review of the order; the underlying filings and the order itself were not provided here for independent review.
