9th Circuit rejected Trump administration bid to set aside California ballots

A split 9th Circuit panel again rejected the Trump administration's effort to set aside 20,000 California ballots it claims likely belong to noncitizens pending verification. The 2-1 majority, comprising Judges Gabriel Sanchez and Mark Bennett, upheld a lower court finding that the administration's list is not credible and that segregating the ballots would risk catastrophic effects on the entire election system. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented, warning that ballots cannot be separated after the fact if fraudulent votes are later found.¹

What this means for counting

The court found that the administration's list is not credible.¹ The majority said segregating the ballots would risk catastrophic effects on the entire election system.¹