Federal judge warns Trump administration bid to set aside 20,000 California mail ballots would ‘wreak havoc’

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A federal judge is refusing to allow the Justice Department to intervene in California’s ongoing mail-in ballot counting, warning that the Trump administration’s request to segregate 20,000 ballots to vet voters’ citizenship would “wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway.”

Federal Judge David O. Carter of the Central District of California said the administration’s attempt to question whether thousands of the state’s voters are noncitizens would violate the state’s right to run its own election and compromise decades of voting and civil rights protections.

The Justice Department had based its emergency lawsuit on what it said was a purchased list of California’s voters, matched with other government data.

“Individuals who have met the requirements of California’s voter registration laws must not be deprived of a core right merely because of unfounded allegations stemming from a procedure rife with uncertainty and errors,” Carter wrote.

The judge wrote that the administration’s request would “create a chilling effect on election workers and voters alike, and discount the votes of United States citizens.”

It is likely the Justice Department will appeal. A previous DOJ attempt to leapfrog over Carter’s court for an appellate review of the case failed earlier this week.

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一名联邦法官拒绝允许司法部干预加州正在进行的邮寄选票计票工作，并警告说，特朗普政府要求将 20,000 张选票分开以核实选民公民身份的做法将“造成混乱，扰​​乱已经开始的选举”。

加州中区联邦法官大卫·O·卡特表示，政府试图质疑该州数千名选民是否为非公民，这将侵犯该州自行组织选举的权利，并损害数十年来对投票权和公民权利的保护。

司法部提起紧急诉讼的依据是，据称是购买的加州选民名单，并与其他政府数据进行了比对。

卡特写道：“符合加州选民登记法要求的个人不应仅仅因为源于充满不确定性和错误的程序的毫无根据的指控而被剥夺一项核心权利。”

法官写道，政府的请求将“对选举工作人员和选民都产生寒蝉效应，并否定美国公民的选票”。

司法部很可能会提起上诉。此前，司法部曾试图绕过卡特法官所在的法院，直接对该案进行上诉审查，但本周早些时候未能成功。