DOJ tactics and court refusals
The Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration on Monday when it refused to force California election officials to segregate and not count ballots from people the justice department claims are non-citizens. The agency gave officials only 48 hours to review the list. They threatened to sue if officials did not sequester the ballots until those listed could verify their citizenship. I find the administration’s refusal to provide any underlying evidence or methodology regarding its assertions blatant. Dean Logan, the Los Angeles county clerk and recorder, said the Department of Justice has not provided the underlying evidence, source, or methodology supporting its assertions that individuals identified in its records are ineligible to vote.
Federal judge David Carter previously blocked the government from threatening to prosecute election officials on Friday. Carter, a Clinton appointee, wrote in his decision that the administration’s move to interfere in California’s vote was unusual and extreme. He stated that never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch. The justice department also threatened to prosecute election officials in California who counted ballots from those on the list, a move that drew widespread rebuke. This tactic follows the administration’s release of videos and pictures showing the arrests of dozens of non-citizens who allegedly registered and voted in federal elections, as media outlets circulated them. Omar Munoz, one of the arrested individuals, told the Guardian that the whole thing was staged and he was a patsy.
California responses and investigations
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals also rejected the Trump administration’s efforts over the weekend. The administration’s demands are part of a larger effort to assert a greater role in overseeing elections and push claims of voter fraud committed by non-citizens. The justice department has made a similar demand to segregate ballots in Washington state and has filed criminal charges against 28 green card holders in California for allegedly registering to vote and casting illegal ballots.
Governor Gavin Newsom reacted to the ruling and said the court firmly slapped down the Trump DoJ’s baseless attack on California’s electoral process and did not even entertain it. Attorney General Rob Bonta said the decision should end the administration’s attempt to disrupt California’s elections through emergency court orders, but he added that the work is not over.
The administration has also opened a criminal investigation in California to pursue claims of non-citizen voting and has begun subpoenaing election officials. Trump also promised to issue a $1m reward to anyone whose reports of voter fraud lead to an arrest or conviction. Data and experts show that ineligible non-citizen voting is extremely rare.
