9th Circuit Rejects DOJ Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Ballots
California, US
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty
Source Analysis
What Happened
What Happened
Where Sources Agree
- arrows_inputAppeals Court Rejects Ballot Challenge: Sources across outlets confirm the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Justice Department's request to set aside disputed California ballots in a 2-1 ruling issued on Friday.
- arrows_inputInfeasibility of Segregating Disputed Ballots: Sources largely converge on the finding that there is no feasible way to identify and segregate disputed ballots without causing potentially catastrophic effects on the entire system, according to court findings.
Where Sources Disagree
- arrows_outputCharacterizing DOJ Election Objectives: The Justice Department maintains it seeks the list to examine the impact of potential noncitizen voting on eligible voters; however, critics and court filings characterize the administration's objective as pressuring officials to set aside and halt the counting of disputed ballots.
Timeline
November 4, 2026 Upcoming
Officials subpoenaed; ballots processed: At least three L.A. County election officials were asked to appear before a grand jury on November 4, 2026, even as hundreds of thousands of ballots had already been processed and millions in California had voted; elections officials said processed votes are anonymized and cannot be matched back to individual voters.
October 30, 2026
Subpoenas and access battles escalate: Also reported on October 30, 2026, the Associated Press obtained subpoenas issued to Los Angeles County election officials seeking documents tied to July and October letters from federal officials, while outside groups sued for access to the disputed ~20,000-name list and a federal judge ordered the administration to share the list; unions joined efforts to block DOJ threats to local officials.
October 30, 2026
9th Circuit rejects DOJ request: On October 30, 2026 the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 ruling rejecting the Justice Department’s emergency request to block California from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 alleged noncitizens; the majority opinion was authored by Judges Mark J. Bennett and Gabriel P. Sanchez.
Summary by Ground AI
Sources
See All 227A varied selection of sources chosen by Ground to reflect the diversity of this story’s coverage.
Most Written About
The stories getting the most coverage from the last 24 hours
Source Analysis
Timeline
November 4, 2026 Upcoming
Officials subpoenaed; ballots processed: At least three L.A. County election officials were asked to appear before a grand jury on November 4, 2026, even as hundreds of thousands of ballots had already been processed and millions in California had voted; elections officials said processed votes are anonymized and cannot be matched back to individual voters.
October 30, 2026
Subpoenas and access battles escalate: Also reported on October 30, 2026, the Associated Press obtained subpoenas issued to Los Angeles County election officials seeking documents tied to July and October letters from federal officials, while outside groups sued for access to the disputed ~20,000-name list and a federal judge ordered the administration to share the list; unions joined efforts to block DOJ threats to local officials.
October 30, 2026
9th Circuit rejects DOJ request: On October 30, 2026 the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 ruling rejecting the Justice Department’s emergency request to block California from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 alleged noncitizens; the majority opinion was authored by Judges Mark J. Bennett and Gabriel P. Sanchez.
