US appeals court sceptical of Trump’s lawsuit over California voter rolls

Judge questions the Trump administration’s efforts to exert greater influence over elections process ahead of upcoming midterm vote.

Election workers process mail-in ballots at the Registrar of Voters facility in San Diego, California, on October 23 [Mike Blake/Reuters]

A United States appeals court has expressed doubt over the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against California, which seeks to force the state to throw out mail-in ballots it has deemed likely to go to non-citizens.

Circuit Judge Mark Bennett said on Sunday that the three-judge panel would issue a decision as soon as possible, following a rare weekend oral argument.

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But Bennett, an appointee of Republican President Donald Trump, voiced concern that the lawsuit would not hold up to scrutiny.

He pointed to the Elections Clause in the US Constitution, which allows states — not the federal government — to administer elections.

“It seems to me that you want us to issue an injunction that is entirely inconsistent with the law that the California legislature has adopted pursuant to the Elections Clause,” Bennett told Justice Department lawyer Matthew Donnelly. “How can we do that?”

The case is part of a larger effort under the right-wing Trump administration to crack down on alleged non-citizen voting ahead of the crucial November 3 midterm elections.

On October 15, less than three weeks before the midterm races, the Justice Department issued a complaint targeting California, a left-wing stronghold.

It asked the federal court system to set aside thousands of mail-in ballots that the government says were sent to “likely non-citizens”.

The lawsuit indicates the Trump administration sent California officials a list of 20,000 names it believes are not eligible to vote, based on citizenship.

Trump has often pushed the discredited claim that the Democratic Party is benefiting from widespread voting by non-citizens.

California has long been one of the targets for his election misinformation.

Earlier this year, Trump denounced the state’s primaries after right-wing candidates like Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt felt short of his expectations.

“There’s BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California,” he wrote on social media at the time.

He then announced that the state would be under investigation from the US attorney’s office.

Trump’s efforts have caused alarm, with critics accusing him of seeking to dampen voter turnout through intimidation and confusion.

The midterms will decide which party controls the US Congress, as well as key state and local positions.

Polls, however, predict steep odds for Republican candidates, given Trump’s souring approval ratings and dissatisfaction with issues like the cost of living and the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Voting rights advocates have warned that the Trump administration has not publicly revealed how it has compiled its list of non-citizen voters, and whistleblower reports have cast doubt on the accuracy of such lists.

In response to the October 15 lawsuit, California has countered that it has strong safeguards to prevent non-citizens from voting.

It also said that the Justice Department’s claims are based on dubious data.

“This is a sad, desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement earlier this month.

“We will continue to carry out free and fair elections in the Golden State — and call out this authoritarian as he tries every play in the dictator’s playbook.”

法官质疑特朗普政府在即将到来的中期选举前试图对选举过程施加更大影响的做法。

10月23日，加利福尼亚州圣地亚哥选民登记处工作人员正在处理邮寄选票。[Mike Blake/路透社]

美国一家上诉法院对司法部针对加利福尼亚州提起的诉讼表示怀疑，该诉讼旨在迫使加州作废其认为可能寄给非公民的邮寄选票。

巡回法官马克·贝内特周日表示，三名法官组成的小组将在罕见的周末口头辩论后尽快作出裁决。

特朗普政府就加州选民名册上存在非公民一事起诉加州（共3条，此为第1条）

美国法官阻止联邦政府开展识别非公民选民的行动（共3项，此为第2项）

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但共和党总统唐纳德·特朗普任命的法官贝内特表示担心，这场诉讼经不起推敲。

他指出美国宪法中的选举条款允许各州（而不是联邦政府）管理选举。

“在我看来，你们似乎想让我们发布一项与加州立法机构依据选举条款通过的法律完全相悖的禁令，”贝内特对司法部律师马修·唐纳利说。“我们怎么能这样做呢？”

此案是右翼特朗普政府在11月3日关键的中期选举前，打击所谓非公民投票的更大规模行动的一部分。

10 月 15 日，距离中期选举不到三周，司法部对左翼大本营加利福尼亚州提起诉讼。

它要求联邦法院系统搁置数千张邮寄选票，政府称这些选票寄给了“很可能不是公民的人”。

诉讼表明，特朗普政府向加州官员发送了一份包含 20,000 个名字的名单，政府认为这些人因公民身份问题而没有投票资格。

特朗普经常散布已被证伪的说法，即民主党正从非公民的广泛投票中获益。

加州长期以来一直是他的选举虚假信息攻击的目标之一。

今年早些时候，特朗普谴责了该州的初选，因为像洛杉矶市长候选人斯宾塞·普拉特这样的右翼候选人感到未能达到他的预期。

“加州的民主党人存在严重的作弊行为，”他当时在社交媒体上写道。

随后他宣布，该州将受到美国检察官办公室的调查。

特朗普的举动引发了担忧，批评人士指责他试图通过恐吓和制造混乱来降低选民投票率。

中期选举将决定哪个党派控制美国国会，以及重要的州和地方职位。

然而，民调预测共和党候选人获胜的几率很高，因为特朗普的支持率不断下降，民众对生活成本和美以对伊朗的战争等问题感到不满。

投票权倡导者警告说，特朗普政府尚未公开披露其如何编制非公民选民名单，而举报人的报告也对这类名单的准确性提出了质疑。

针对 10 月 15 日的诉讼，加州反驳称，加州有强有力的保障措施来防止非公民投票。

报告还指出，司法部的说法是基于可疑的数据。

“这是特朗普在距离选举日仅剩三周之际，利用其政治化的司法部试图压制加州选民的可悲而绝望的举动，”加州州长加文·纽森本月早些时候在一份声明中表示。

“我们将继续在加州举行自由公正的选举——并谴责这个独裁者，因为他正试图使出独裁者的所有伎俩。”