Appeals court denies Trump DOJ's bid to pull ballots of 20,000 California voters. Counting goes on.

A federal appeals court on Friday refused the Trump Justice Department's emergency request to make California set aside the ballots of about 20,000 voters the department claims may not be U.S. citizens. The ruling, four days before the Nov. 3 election, keeps those ballots in the count.

A three-judge Ninth Circuit panel denied the department's emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal in an unsigned 2-1 order in United States v. California. Judge Mark J. Bennett, a Trump appointee, and Judge Gabriel P. Sanchez, a Biden appointee, formed the majority, CBS News and the AP reported. Judge Patrick J. Bumatay, also a Trump appointee, dissented.

"As the district court found—and we discern no clear error—there is no feasible way to identify and segregate the ballots of specific individuals without potentially catastrophic effects on the entire system," the court wrote. It said the government had not shown that "such extraordinary relief, during an ongoing election, is clearly required by law." It also cited the Supreme Court's Purcell rule, which warns federal courts against changing election rules close to an election: "Purcell counsels that we should not intervene at this late hour."

Bumatay wrote that the court should have ordered California "to stop commingling suspected illegal ballots with legitimate ones to the extent feasible," arguing that would "not cancel any vote."

The appeal challenged U.S. District Judge David O. Carter's Oct. 28 ruling refusing the same request. It is the second time this week the same panel has turned the department away: on Oct. 26 it dismissed an earlier appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

The 20,000 figure is the department's claim, not a finding. California says the list is highly unreliable and likely includes many citizens, and the state told the court that about 1 in 4 voters on it were born in the United States.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, CBS reported. It could still ask the full Ninth Circuit or the Supreme Court to step in, but it has not said whether it will. Counties keep counting, and the secretary of state must certify results by Dec. 11.

We applaud a ruling that keeps eligible voters' ballots from being pulled on the strength of a disputed list. California voters can track their own ballot at Where's My Ballot?

Sources

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, United States v. California, No. 26-7231, order denying injunction pending appeal (Oct. 30, 2026) (CourtListener)
• Appeals court rejects DOJ request to have California set aside disputed ballots (CBS News)
• Federal appeals court rejects Justice Department demand for California to set aside disputed ballots (Associated Press, via KSAT)
• Judge rejects Trump's bid to set aside California mail ballots (CBS News)