A federal judge has ruled that the Justice Department cannot require California to set aside ballots from over 20,000 individuals it claims are noncitizens. U.S. District Judge David Carter stated that such a move would disrupt the electoral process and emphasized that Congress has not given the executive branch the power to segregate ballots. The DOJ has appealed the decision, arguing that illegal votes dilute legal ones. California sends ballots to all registered voters, with over 3.5 million ballots returned by the time of the ruling.
Key facts
- U.S. District Judge David Carter issued the ruling on October 30, 2026.
- California has mailed ballots to all 23 million registered voters.
- Over 3.5 million ballots had been returned by the time of the ruling.
- The DOJ's list of suspected noncitizens was reduced from 190,832 to approximately 20,000.
- Los Angeles County found that 71.2% of the individuals on the DOJ's list had never voted.
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