An emergency motion was submitted to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals by The Department of Justice. This move comes as the government seeks to stop the tabulation of up to 20,000 vote-by-mail ballots it claims were sent to likely noncitizens. RedState reported that officials filed this suit after state leaders ignored earlier requests to set aside these specific ballots.
The legal battle has shifted rapidly over the last week. On October 19, US Attorneys announced Operation Protect the Vote, charging 28 permanent legal residents with illegal voter registration. That same day, the DOJ asked a federal judge to order officials to segregate ballots from people on a specific list. RedState noted that no judge was assigned to the case when this emergency motion was first filed.
The Motion to Bypass the Court
Judge John Holcomb, appointed by Trump, was given the case by the evening of October 20. Yet, under “related case” rules, Judge David Carter, a Clinton appointee, assumed control of the case by the afternoon of October 21. The DOJ then moved to bypass this newly assigned judge entirely to seek emergency relief from the higher appeals court. RedState confirmed this shift in judicial assignment happened before the federal government escalated its legal request.
Simultaneously, the Justice Department sent letters to 57 of California’s 58 counties on Friday. These letters warn local election officials to cooperate with the administration or face potential legal action. Regarding the same issue, NBC News reported that Los Angeles County received a comparable letter last week.
Demands for Immediate Action
A direct letter from First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli was received by Joani Finwall, the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters. His letter provided a list of 1,133 names described as “likely aliens.” Essayli demanded a swift response from local officials to verify citizenship status. He wrote, “Within 48 hours, we ask that you commit to working with DOJ and DHS to identify who on the accompanying list is a citizen and who is not,” per NBC News.
The letter made the legal stakes clear for anyone processing these votes. “I write to make unmistakably clear the legal implications of continuing to send vote-by-mail ballots to those people on the list or tabulating ballots cast by them until citizenship can be verified,” Essayli stated. The county was instructed by him to “immediately instruct the appropriate elections official to segregate — not cancel — those individuals’ vote-by-mail ballots until their citizenship status can be determined.”
An alien voting in a federal election constitutes a federal crime, Essayli warned. He added that knowingly facilitating such conduct is equally unlawful under federal law. According to NBC News, he stated, “The legal consequences for either facilitating or ignoring federal crimes are significant.”
Response and Next Steps
When asked about the letters sent to voters, Essayli told NBC News that “The letters speak for themselves.” He emphasized the risk for officials who ignore these warnings. “Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy,” he said.
While the Justice Department pushes for these actions, critics argue there is no proof of widespread fraud. NBC News heard from a Senator who stated that the Trump administration has not provided evidence for its claims of massive voter fraud. The case now rests with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to decide if the emergency motion will be granted.
Officials have not yet stated how they will respond to the 48-hour deadline. The court must decide whether to intervene before ballots are counted in the upcoming election cycle. The status of the 1,133 names on the San Bernardino list remains the central point of this legal fight.
