U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote in his ruling Wednesday that “Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state.”
He added: “But California and its people are sovereign, too. These threats must stop.” The Justice Department had asked him to order California to set aside about 20,000 ballots it says may belong to noncitizens.
Carter wrote that granting the request “would wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway.” He also called the department’s emergency “solely due to its own neglect.”
He wrote: “If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger. This Court declines to be a party to such process.”
Carter described the department’s actions as “indicative of a broad, ongoing pattern of attempted election interference by federal officials.”
Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, posted on X: “The district court denied our emergency request to sequester ballots from 20,000 suspected noncitizens. Every day, more ballots are processed by election officials. This ongoing emergency disenfranchises American citizens through dilution.”
Less than two hours after the ruling, the administration filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit, which on Monday declined, 2–1, to grant the DOJ emergency relief in the case before Carter ruled.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said: “No administration can disenfranchise thousands of individuals or disrupt an ongoing election.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom said: “Our country’s legal system is standing up to the President’s authoritarian attempts to remain in power.”
For the second day this week, our country’s legal system is standing up to the President’s authoritarian attempts to remain in power unchecked and unchallenged. https://t.co/BAEIEfEXzc
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) October 29, 2026
Virginia Kase Solomón, CEO of Common Cause, called the department’s list “faulty, junk data.”
At Tuesday’s hearing, Carter said: “Some of these may be very valid voters. And that’s my concern.” In his ruling he wrote that the department “by its own admission, is actively enforcing this law,” and that it should prosecute individuals who violate the law rather than set aside thousands of ballots.