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UpdateNationalFriday, October 23, 2026

Trump DOJ appealed California ballot case before judge ruled

The Department of Justice appealed to a higher court before the district judge decided on its emergency request.

Reporting by
Democracy Docket
“Trump DOJ appeals California ballot case before judge even rules”, Friday, October 23, 2026
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What happened

The Trump administration appealed its California ballot lawsuit to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday before U.S. District Judge David O. Carter had ruled on its emergency request. The DOJ argued his silence past a self-imposed noon deadline constituted a constructive denial of relief. The DOJ sued California, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan one week earlier to stop the counting of ballots belonging to more than 20,000 people federal agencies identified as likely noncitizens without first verifying their citizenship.1

more than 20,000
ballots the DOJ wants stopped from counting without citizenship verification1
More on this story
National · Oct 26
Trump said he ordered DOJ to sue Alaska over Senate race ballot
Reporting by Democracy Docket
The answers behind this
Who runs elections, and who can't interfereCan the president stop a state from counting votes or certifying?Can noncitizens vote?

Explore this issue

OverviewUpdates In depthCalifornia asks court to dismiss DOJ lawsuit over alleged noncitizen voters In depthBallot tabulator malfunction disrupted early voting in Greensboro In depthTexas candidate who died in September remains on November ballot In depthTrump said he ordered DOJ to sue Alaska over Senate race ballot In depthTexas officials say initials on ballots are legal and won't stop count In depthYork County voters faced Tuesday election for Congress and state offices In depthPennsylvania county sent duplicate mail ballots to 157 voters In depthSyracuse woman charged with voting illegally says she didn't know she wasn't a citizen In depthArizona replaced its election night results reporting system In depthWhite House proposed rule to prohibit federal voter registration funding In depthOhio early in-person voting hours expanded to include weekends In depthWisconsin judge ruled against backup plan for late mail ballots

Sources

  1. Democracy Docket, https://democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-doj-appeals-california-ballot-case-before-judge-even-rules · Friday, October 23, 2026

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