A United States judge has rejected the Justice Department's request to temporarily block California from counting mail ballots for the 3 November midterm elections from more than 20,000 registered voters the Trump administration alleges are likely noncitizens. US District Judge David Carter issued the decision on Wednesday after a Tuesday hearing in Los Angeles federal court.

The judge's reasoning

The department filed its lawsuit on 15 October, a rare federal intervention weeks before an election. It is the latest setback for President Donald Trump's effort to expand the federal government's role in elections. Carter, an appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton, said the last-minute request ran against longstanding constitutional principles giving states control over their elections. "Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch," he wrote.

California's objection, and what comes next

He warned that granting the request could create chaos and leave thousands of voters at risk. "Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred," he wrote. California has said its safeguards against noncitizen voting are robust, and that the department's assertions relied on "suspect data". State officials argued that complying would risk disenfranchising eligible voters. The voters are described by the administration as "likely" or "alleged" noncitizens; this article does not state as fact that they are noncitizens.

The ruling does not end the case. Carter set a second hearing in the next two weeks and noted officials have until 3 December, when results must be certified, to resolve the issue — removing, in his view, any need for an emergency order now. California holds 52 House seats, more than any other state.

Sources: Reuters, NPR via KRVS.