Justice Department appeals ruling on 20,000 California ballots

The U.S. Justice Department filed an appeal on Thursday after a federal judge in Los Angeles rejected an emergency bid to stop the counting of 20,000 California ballots.

The government claims these votes may belong to noncitizens, but U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ruled that the allegations were not credible. Carter, a appointee of President Clinton, stated that the intervention sought by the administration would violate multiple federal laws and disrupt the ongoing midterm election.

First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, the lead prosecutor in Los Angeles, wrote that the delay in processing ballots disenfranchises citizens through dilution. His office now plans to argue the case before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-judge panel previously denied the administration's initial request for a temporary restraining order.

Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to the legal battle by announcing that California is deploying election lawyers to key districts to protect votes. Newsom also signed a measure making the illegal seizure of ballots a felony. The governor stated that the state has 134 election law attorneys and 1,000 volunteers ready to monitor federal observers at polling places.

County officials have pushed back against federal threats with their own letters. Susan K. Blitch, counsel for Monterey County, described the Justice Department's actions as an effort to unlawfully intimidate election officials. Thomas L. Geiger, counsel for Contra Costa County, replied to a federal letter flagging 407 potential noncitizens by calling the demand legally unsound.

In a separate letter, U.S. Atty. Craig Missakian warned Kristin Connelly, the head of the Contra Costa County registrar's office, about the legal implications of processing ballots from those flagged voters. Tony Lopresti, an attorney for Santa Clara County, said his county reserves the right to pursue all legal remedies against the Justice Department for what he called unlawful intimidation.

Elections experts noted that the federal government has lost on both the law and the facts in recent rulings. Rick Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA School of Law, said the courts have consistently rebuffed the administration's attempts to intervene. The next hearing is expected before the same appellate panel that previously reviewed the case.

The dispute continues as polls prepare to close on Tuesday. Judge Carter wrote that the federal government had never before sought to coerce a state to abandon its own constitutional election procedures on the eve of an election. He concluded that California and its people are sovereign entities in the electoral process.