Appeals court rejects DOJ bid to force California to set aside ballots

Left · 1A federal appeals court on Monday dismissed the Justice Department's effort to force California election officials to set aside thousands of ballots that the Trump administration claims may have been cast by alleged noncitizens. 1 Left · 1Raw Story reported that the panel ruled 2-1 and that the ballots at issue came from more than 20,000 voters suspected of being noncitizens. 2 Left · 1Judge Mark Bennett, appointed by Trump, joined Judge Gabriel Sanchez, appointed by Biden, in the majority, while Judge Patrick Bumatay, a Trump appointee, dissented, according to Raw Story, which cited legal analyst Kyle Chesney. 2

Left · 1The majority wrote in its 91-page order that "The United States’s claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one," and that the A.A.R.P. plaintiffs "acted as promptly as they could; the United States, here, has not." 2 Left · 1CNN's Katelyn Polantz reported that the dispute now returns to the trial court, where a hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. 2 Left · 1California officials have challenged the reliability of the federal government's voter data. 2

Left · 1CBS News noted that over the weekend Attorney General Todd Blanche said on "Face the Nation" that the Justice Department is not laying the groundwork to overturn unfavorable election results. 3