9th Circuit Orders CA to Respond to DOJs

UPDATED 10:45 PM EDT, 10/23/26: 

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the State of California and Los Angeles County to reply to the DOJ’s emergency appeal by midday on Saturday, October 24.

Breaking: 9th Circuit orders California to reply to Trump DOJ emergency appeal by midday tomorrow in case of alleged 20k non-citizen ballots. This is shifting. https://t.co/DLVWch4QVD

— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) October 24, 2026

U.S. District Judge David Carter has continued to reply to other motions filed in the underlying case, while ignoring the DOJ’s requests for a speedy ruling on its movement for a short-term restraining order and movement for an injunction pending appeal.

ORIGINAL STORY

The Department of Justice filed an emergency movement with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Friday in its case against the State of California and Los Angeles County associated to the potential tabulation of up to 20,000 vote-by-mail ballots it says had been mailed to “likely noncitizens” on the state’s voter roll.

It’s the latest transfer in a nonstop week of filings and maneuverings that began on October 15, when the DOJ filed go well with after state officers ignored its request that mail ballots returned on the record of 20,000 suspected noncitizens be set apart and not tabulated until citizenship might be confirmed. This will likely be a little tedious, but it is value reciting the procedural historical past.

On October 19, US Attorneys for the 4 California districts announced Operation Protect the Vote, in which 28 everlasting legal residents in the state had been charged with illegally registering to vote, with many of them also dealing with costs for truly voting in one or more elections despite not being eligible. The same day, the DOJ filed an emergency movement, asking a federal choose to order state officers to segregate ballots acquired from people on the record.

As we reported, at the time the emergency movement was filed, there was no choose assigned to the case. On the night of October 20, Trump-appointed Judge John Holcomb was assigned the case, but by the afternoon of October 21 Judge David Carter, a Clinton appointee who ruled against forcing the state to present the DOJ its voter rolls back in January, took the case over under “related case” guidelines.

BREAKING: In a blow for DOJ, the federal choose overseeing the case involving the alleged 20,000 non-citizen voters in California has been switched from Judge John W. Holcomb (Trump appointee) to Judge David Carter (Clinton appointee). This swap will likely be seen as a win for LA County/California. Judge Carter beforehand dismissed a DOJ lawsuit against CA last yr that accused the state of not following federal legal guidelines on correct upkeep of voter rolls. Here’s what Judge Carter wrote when dismissing the case to give a taste of his pondering on the subject: “State run elections imply that voters acknowledge their neighbors who workers polling stations, trust their Secretaries of State—whom they voted for—to keep their personally figuring out data protected, and consider that they won’t be focused because of what they seem like or who they vote for. The DOJ’s request for the delicate data of Californians stands to have a chilling impact on American residents like political minority teams and working-class immigrants who could take into account not registering to vote or skip casting a poll because they’re nervous about how their data will likely be used.”

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 21, 2026

Late in the night of October 21, the DOJ filed a movement asking Carter to rule by midday on Thursday, October 22, citing the continuing hurt and disenfranchisement of U.S. residents occurring in the absence of any segregation of ballots acquired from people on the doubtless noncitizen record that would continue until the October 27 date Carter set for listening to on the short-term restraining order. Carter ignored that request, so on the night of October 22 the DOJ filed a discover of appeal to the 9th Circuit, characterizing Carter’s silence as a constructive denial of its movement.

Then, on Friday morning, October 23, the DOJ filed a movement for an injunction pending its appeal to the 9th Circuit, asking Judge Carter to at least order the state to segregate those ballots until the appeal might be heard at the 9th Circuit. Carter issued orders and memoranda associated to the October twenty seventh listening to, but did not reply to the movement for injunction. By Friday night, the DOJ filed a request for an injunction at the 9th Circuit instead of at the district court stage.

Breaking: Trump admin formally information emergency request to the 9th Circuit in the case of the alleged 20k non-citizen ballots. This is now an effort to bypass CA federal choose David Carter, who didn’t make a ruling by the DOJ’s request midday yesterday. https://t.co/KJZTjgPr93

— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) October 23, 2026

At the same time, the DOJ despatched letters to 48 county registrars in the state, giving them 48 hours to “quarantine” the ballots of suspected noncitizens in their counties.

Editor’s Note: Republicans are combating for election integrity by requiring correct identification to vote. It’s common sense, yet Democrats are spreading lies about the impression of such a measure. 

Help us continue to call out these lies by becoming a member of PurpleState VIP and utilizing promo code FIGHT to obtain 60% off your membership.