Justice Department Takes California Ballot Fight to Appeals Court as Early Vote Passes 43 Million

October 30, 2026 · Category: Field & Elections

The Justice Department is not letting go of its effort to keep some California ballots out of the count. In a late Wednesday filing, it asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rule quickly on whether the state can be stopped, for now, from counting ballots tied to up to 20,000 people it says are likely noncitizens, citing "irreversible ballot processing occurring on an ongoing basis," AP reported. The appeal came hours after U.S. District Judge David O. Carter rejected the request in a sharply worded order.

This will be the appeals court's second look at the case. Last week a panel said it was too early to step in, though two of the three judges wrote that they would not support setting ballots aside this late and questioned the accuracy of the federal list, AP noted. Carter still has to rule on a separate request for a preliminary injunction, and he has set an expedited hearing for Nov. 13, Coast News reported. He also pointed out that officials have until the Dec. 3 certification deadline to resolve disputes, which is part of why he saw no need for emergency action.

The fight is also playing out county by county. In Riverside County, the top federal prosecutor in the Los Angeles area had given the registrar 48 hours to segregate 1,355 ballots on the list. The county answered Thursday that, given Carter's order and the "logistical impossibility," it would not, KESQ reported. In Washington, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs told federal prosecutors in a published letter that their list "includes United States citizens and is not reliable," and that refusing to count a registered voter's ballot without individual proof would likely break federal law.

Meanwhile, voters keep turning out. More than 43 million Americans had cast early ballots by Thursday, with four to five million arriving each day, according to University of Florida Election Lab data cited by the BBC. Election Lab director Michael McDonald said Texas alone had passed its 2022 early-vote total by about 1.75 million, with more than 5.8 million ballots cast there. Early voting will start winding down this weekend as states close in-person windows ahead of Tuesday.

Why it matters

With an appeal pending and an injunction hearing set after Election Day, the status of ballots on the federal lists may not be settled until close to certification. For election offices, the practical issue is whether processing and canvass timelines hold; for voters, it is whether anyone on those lists is told where they stand. This article reports court filings and official statements and takes no position on the claims.

Sources

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