The Justice Department is immediately appealing a federal judge’s decision to reject its emergency request to halt California’s processing of more than 20,000 ballots linked to suspected noncitizen voters, intensifying a high-stakes election dispute just days before Election Day.
First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said Wednesday evening that the Trump administration had filed a notice of appeal. The department will also seek emergency relief from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals after US District Judge David O. Carter denied its request.
“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. The Solicitor General authorized an immediate appeal. We filed our Notice of Appeal and will immediately seek an emergency order from the Ninth Circuit,” Essayli said.
Carter, who presides in downtown Los Angeles, ruled against the Justice Department’s effort to set aside the disputed ballots while election officials continue processing votes ahead of next week’s election.
“Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable,” Carter wrote in his order. “Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred. … This Court declines to be a party to such process.”
The decision represents another defeat for the Trump administration, which has accused California officials of failing to properly investigate and remove suspected noncitizens from the state’s voter rolls.
The dispute has already exposed a sharp divide among federal appellate judges. On Monday, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit rejected the Justice Department’s earlier emergency appeal in a 2-1 ruling, finding that the administration had acted before the lower court had enough time to fully consider the request.
Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez ruled against the administration. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented, cautioning that the disputed ballots could become impossible to trace once they were processed.
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“Those questionable ballots are now rolling in. Once those ballots are processed, it would be impossible to identify them, and they must be counted in the election,” Bumatay wrote.
“None of California’s counterarguments prevent the federal government from stepping in and seeking to stop California from burying its head in the sand while aliens may be voting in federal elections. We should’ve granted the federal government relief … because it encourages and induces illegal voting,” he added.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit focuses on nearly 20,000 names that the administration identified as suspicious. Officials are accused of failing to review those names within a 48-hour deadline.
The case is unfolding as part of a broader federal effort to investigate alleged voter fraud in California. Prosecutors recently charged 28 people with allegedly registering to vote fraudulently, with most accused of casting illegal ballots.
One of those defendants is Alexander Muñoz, a 72-year-old Belizean national accused of falsely claiming US citizenship when he registered to vote in September 2019. Prosecutors allege that he voted in the 2020 election, twice in 2022 and again in 2024.
The Justice Department’s latest appeal sets up another emergency court battle over whether California may continue processing the disputed ballots as Election Day draws near.
The department contends that once the ballots are combined with the broader vote count, officials could be unable to isolate them. That, it argues, could leave the government without an effective remedy if its allegations are ultimately proven.
