By Luc Cohen
Oct 30 (Reuters) - A US appeals court said on Friday that blocking California from counting midterm election mail ballots received from more than 20,000 registered voters the Trump administration alleges may not be citizens would risk disenfranchising eligible voters.
The ruling could set up a showdown at the US Supreme Court days before the November 3 midterms, with President Donald Trump's Republicans battling to retain their majorities in both chambers of Congress.
In a 2-1 decision
denying the Justice Department's request for an order blocking the most populous US state from counting the votes while the case plays out, a panel of the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals pointed to a lower court's finding that the Trump administration's list may not be fully reliable.
"There is a material risk that granting the United States its requested relief would result in disenfranchisement," wrote US Circuit Judges Mark Bennett, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, and Gabriel Sanchez, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden.
'WREAK HAVOC'
The US Constitution assigns the role of administering elections to the states. Trump, who falsely asserts that his loss in the 2020 election was due to fraud, has long said that states are not doing enough to prevent voter fraud.
His administration has sought to pressure state election officials over alleged noncitizen voting, which all available evidence shows is exceedingly rare. California has said the state's safeguards against noncitizen voting, which is illegal, are robust.
As part of the administration's pressure campaign, the Justice Department on October 15 filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to order California to separate ballots from anyone on its list of suspected noncitizens and to not count them until it had verified that they were citizens.
US District Judge David Carter denied the Trump administration's request for a temporary restraining order, writing on October 28 that it would "wreak havoc" on the election and potentially disenfranchise thousands of lawfully registered voters.
In a dissent on Friday, US Circuit Judge Patrick Bumatay wrote that the federal government's request that California separate the ballots of suspected noncitizens would not have cancelled any votes, but would have provided time for the state or federal government to verify their citizenship.
"California decided long ago that aliens can't vote in its elections. Today, the federal government merely seeks to safeguard that decision. We should have let them try," wrote Bumatay, who was appointed by Trump during his first term.
IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN
California is a Democratic stronghold and has more seats in the House of Representatives — 52 — than any other state.
Trump has made California a focal point of his sweeping immigration crackdown since returning to the White House, accusing it of undermining public safety through its "sanctuary state" policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
The Justice Department has not said how many of the more than 20,000 people on its list of possible noncitizens registered to vote in California have actually submitted ballots.
California has said the Justice Department's assertions relied on "suspect data" and that complying with its demands would risk disenfranchising eligible voters.
Voting rights activists have for months raised concerns about the Trump administration's push to identify noncitizens on state voter rolls, arguing its methods relied on outdated data and could result in immigrants who are now naturalized citizens being improperly denied the right to vote.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Nia Williams)
