Ninth Circuit Hears DOJ Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Ballots Tied to Suspected Noncitizens
Photo: Straight Arrow NewsA three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Sunday heard nearly two hours of arguments on the Trump administration's emergency request to make California set aside about 20,000 mail ballots tied to people the Justice Department suspects are noncitizens. The judges questioned the government's legal arguments and whether the court has jurisdiction, and a ruling is pending. The Justice Department asked for an immediate ruling, arguing that hundreds of thousands of California ballots could be tabulated each day while the dispute continues.
The dispute began with letters the Justice Department sent to county registrars on Friday. They demanded that the registrars sequester the ballots and provide sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, on roughly 20,000 voters. The letters set a 48-hour deadline and warned of legal action against any official who knowingly counted a noncitizen's vote. California's attorney general's office said the letters contained errors. Mendocino County, for example, received a list of people who were not residents. Napa County registrar John Tuteur said counting would continue in a state with 23 million registered voters.
Right-leaning Fox News and Newsmax lead with the Sunday hearing. Their headlines say the Ninth Circuit "questions" the DOJ demand, and they cite the panel's doubts about timing, constitutionality, authority and jurisdiction, plus the government's urgency argument. In the excerpts, they do not feature election officials' reactions or the list errors. Left-leaning HuffPost, running AP text, leads with registrars' confusion and frustration, quotes Tuteur saying the effort aims to raise doubts about the election, and says noncitizen voting is rare. Both sides report the roughly 20,000 ballots and the midterm context. They differ on whether the story is about the court's scrutiny or the local fallout. Straight Arrow News stresses the threat of legal action.
How the sides differ Left sources emphasize frustrated California election officials and errors in the DOJ's list; right sources stress the appeals court's skeptical questioning of the Justice Department's emergency request.
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HuffPost, carrying AP text, leads with confused and frustrated county election officials, quoting Napa's registrar, and notes the California attorney general's office saying the DOJ letters contained errors.
AP matches the left-leaning account of frustrated officials, while Straight Arrow News focuses on the order and reported threats of legal action against registrars who do not comply.
Fox News and Newsmax lead with the Ninth Circuit hearing, stressing the judges' questions on jurisdiction, timing and authority, and the DOJ's argument that many ballots are counted daily.