U.S. appeals court appears skeptical of Trump DOJ’s lawsuit over California voter rolls
A federal appeals court appeared skeptical on Sunday of a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump’s administration that seeks to force California officials to set aside thousands of mail-in ballots the administration says were sent to noncitizens ahead of midterm elections.
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During a rare weekend oral argument, two judges on a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sharply questioned a Justice Department lawyer about the lawsuit, a high-profile effort by the Trump administration to boost the federal government’s role in elections ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms.
The Department of Justice’s lawsuit signals the willingness of Trump’s administration to contest midterm results that will decide control of Congress, where his fellow Republicans narrowly control both chambers.
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At the end of the two-hour oral argument, Circuit Judge Mark Bennett said the three-judge panel would try to rule as quickly as possible.
Trump’s Justice Department has warned election officials across California that they could be targets of federal scrutiny if they refuse to help identify suspected noncitizens on voter rolls. It has distributed to California officials a list of 20,000 people it says are likely aliens registered to vote in the state, a Democratic stronghold.
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