Federal Judge Denies DOJ’s Request to Segregate California Ballots

In Santa Ana, Calif., ballots are being prepared for scanning in the Vote-By-Mail Processing Boards area at the Orange County Registrar of Voters Facility as of October 28, 2026. A federal judge has turned down an emergency request from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to separate thousands of California ballots in the midterm elections. The DOJ asked California election officials to halt the processing of ballots linked to 20,000 individuals allegedly ‘likely’ noncitizens.

California state and local officials argue the DOJ’s list is unreliable. An initial analysis by Los Angeles County indicates that many on the list lack active voter registrations. They also assert that segregating ballots days before Election Day is impractical and illegal, risking disenfranchisement of eligible voters.

U.S. District Judge David Carter issued a 26-page ruling on Wednesday evening, denying the DOJ’s request for a temporary restraining order to stop the processing of contested ballots. Carter, a Clinton appointee, criticized the federal government’s unprecedented move to influence state election procedures near Election Day.

“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,” Judge Carter wrote.

Carter voiced concerns about actions that might disenfranchise voters and create electoral chaos. He warned that once a vote is segregated, the harm is irreversible, and if the Executive Branch could discount votes without proof, it endangers democracy.

Judge Carter stated that the federal government might instead continue indicting individuals who illegally vote as noncitizens. In recent months, DOJ officials have charged numerous individuals with registering or voting without U.S. citizenship.

The DOJ’s lawsuit in California, filed on October 15, forms part of a series of unprecedented actions in states close to elections. These actions have raised concerns about federal interference in state election protocols. In Washington state, federal prosecutors have called for a review of 400 registered voters thought to be noncitizens. Additionally, a lawsuit in Alaska seeks to block the state’s Senate race certification under specific conditions.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta urged the court to consider the context of the DOJ’s demand, warning against potential threats to democratic values and principles. The DOJ plans to appeal Judge Carter’s ruling, potentially taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The urgency of the DOJ’s argument lies in ongoing ballot processing. Once signatures on mail ballot envelopes are verified, and ballots are separated to maintain confidentiality, retrieving ineligible ballots becomes impossible. The DOJ claims noncitizen votes dilute those of U.S. citizens, although audits show such voting is rare.

The accuracy of the DOJ’s list remains disputed. A Los Angeles County analysis showed many listed individuals had U.S. birth records. However, Nicolas Bartell of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services contested these findings, noting his office found none were U.S.-born. He did acknowledge a few had potential claims to U.S. citizenship and clarified the list’s creation methodology in court filings.

University of Delaware political scientist Kassra Oskooi, serving as an expert witness for voting rights groups, disputed USCIS’s data matching reliability, raising further questions about the federal government’s stance.