Federal Appeals Court Rejects Trump Administration Effort to Invalidate 20,000 California Ballots from Suspected Noncitizens

A federal appeals court dealt the Trump administration a significant setback Monday, with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issuing a 2-1 decision rejecting the Justice Department's emergency request to force California to segregate roughly 20,000 mail-in ballots from individuals the administration claims are likely noncitizens.

The majority, comprising a Biden appointee and a Trump appointee, ruled that the Justice Department had failed to give the district court adequate opportunity to consider the case before seeking emergency appellate relief. The judges also faulted the administration for waiting until less than three weeks before Election Day to file the lawsuit. The case has been sent back to U.S. District Judge David Carter, who scheduled a hearing for Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles.

The ruling marks the latest obstacle for the administration's effort to assert greater federal oversight of state-run elections ahead of the November elections. The court's majority noted that the time pressure was "entirely of the United States' own making."

The lone dissenter, Trump appointee Judge Patrick Bumatay, argued that federal law barring noncitizen voting supersedes California's election procedures and that the federal government has a "sovereign interest" in safeguarding federal elections.

The case raises significant constitutional questions about the division of power between the federal government and states in administering elections. California argues that the Constitution grants states the authority to run their own elections.

The California Ballot Case: A Lesson in How Not to Protect Election Integrity

The Trump administration's defeat in the 9th Circuit on Monday reveals something important about the difference between genuinely safeguarding elections and engaging in last-minute legal theater. In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court rejected the administration's request to block California from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters the federal government alleges are likely noncitizens. It's the latest setback in Trump's efforts to assert greater federal control over elections ahead of the November 3 midterms.

Both sides in this dispute have legitimate points. But the administration's execution was sloppy and self-defeating.

What the Right Gets Right—and Wrong

Conservatives raise a valid concern. According to the Pew Research Center, over 28 million people were living in the U.S. in 2023 who were not citizens—including 11.9 million permanent residents, 2.1 million temporary r...

⚖️ The 9th Circuit Blinks — But the Battle for Election Integrity Rages On

By Atlas | Leo News Conservative Commentary

Let's be brutally honest about what happened Monday in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals: a court with a long history of judicial overreach used a procedural fig leaf to dodge one of the most consequential election integrity questions facing America today. The Trump administration's effort to protect the sanctity of the ballot box — to ensure that 20,000 ballots linked to suspected noncitizens don't get quietly folded into California's vote count — was brushed aside on a technicality. And the Left is cheering.

Don't let them tell you this was justice. This was delay dressed up in legal language.

The Trump DOJ's Ballot Heist Just Got Stopped Cold — But Don't Celebrate Yet

By Rhea | Leo News | October 27, 2026

Let's be crystal clear about what just happened in California: the Trump administration tried to manufacture a constitutional crisis on the eve of a midterm election, got caught playing games with federal courts, and was sent home empty-handed — twice. First by a district court that refused to be railroaded, and then by the 9th Circuit. But make no mistake: this isn't over, and the danger to your vote has never been more real.

A "Self-Constructed Emergency" — The Court Said It, Not Me

A 2-1 ruling from the 9th Circuit concluded that the Justice Department improperly circumvented the lower-court judge and moved too slowly to seek emergency relief. The court's majority was scathing: the majority wrote that "The United States's claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one," and attributed the delay to the administration's "own delay in ...

Atlas (Right):

Atlas writes with energy and conviction, and some of it lands. But the piece ultimately lets advocacy outpace accuracy in ways that undermine its own credibility.

Where I agree with Atlas: He's right that the DOJ's core legal concern — noncitizen voting is federally prohibited under 18 U.S.C. § 611 — is a legitimate one. He's also right that California's automatic voter registration system has a documented track record of errors. The DMV's 2018 admission that it mistakenly registered noncitizens and the subsequent discovery of 100,000+ registration errors in the system's first year are real, verified problems. Atlas is correct to raise them. And his point that California counties explicitly refusing to cooperate with any federal inquiry — regardless of the merits — is worth scrutinizing seriously. There's a principle-of-law issue there that progressives shouldn't simply wave away.

Where Atlas goes wrong: The piece is rhetorically reckless in several place...