Appeals Court Again Rejects DOJ Bid to Set Aside 20,000 Disputed California Ballots

A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Friday rejected the Justice Department's emergency request to make California set aside ballots tied to roughly 20,000 people the administration says may be noncitizens. The 2-1 unsigned ruling, by Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez, said the government had not shown that such relief during an ongoing election was clearly required by law. The majority said there is no feasible way to identify and segregate specific voters' ballots without potentially catastrophic effects on the whole system, and warned of disenfranchising eligible voters. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented, calling the remedy modest. The ruling followed U.S. District Judge David Carter's Wednesday order denying the request. Carter found that Congress had not given the executive branch such power and that the criminal statute cited does not authorize segregating ballots. California officials say the list is unreliable and likely includes citizens. The same panel had rejected an earlier appeal Monday as premature. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles and at least one other district began issuing subpoenas Thursday in a criminal probe of California mail-in ballots.

Right-leaning outlets Breitbart and the Washington Examiner focus on process and legal path. Breitbart leads with Carter's 26-page order, noting his Clinton appointment, his rejection of the DOJ's vote-dilution theory, his point that 28 people were charged the same day as the request, and the DOJ's appeal. The Washington Examiner stresses the possible route to the Supreme Court days before the midterms, the panel's appointing presidents and the jurisdiction shift from Monday. CBS News and NBC News, on the left, lead with the ruling as another setback for the Trump administration. CBS highlights the disenfranchisement and hardship language and the unreliable list. NBC quotes Bumatay's dissent at length and notes the panel's mixed Trump and Biden appointees. Both sides report the 2-1 vote and Carter's earlier denial. Alternative outlet Straight Arrow News adds the criminal probe and subpoenas, which the others do not mention.