The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled two to one on Monday against the Trump administration’s bid to block California from counting certain mail ballots this cycle, denying its request to sequester roughly 20,000 mailed ballots ahead of the November 3 midterm election. The administration, which sued California on October 15, asserts the ballots went to people who are likely non-citizens but has not publicly revealed how it built that list, and the majority said it had not given the lower courts enough time to review the case, underscoring that election administration is the state’s responsibility under the Constitution. The underlying case continues in the lower court, with a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, and the article notes the Justice Department has sued 30 states and Washington, D.C. for complete access to voter rolls and has lost 26 of those cases and won none so far.
Appeals court refuses to block California mail ballot count
A divided Ninth Circuit panel on Monday denied the Trump administration's request to stop California counting roughly 20,000 mail ballots it says were sent to likely non-citizens, a week before the November 3 midterm election.
Why it matters: The ruling leaves ballot tabulation with the state while the underlying case is still being heard, and it extends the administration's losing run in its voter roll and ballot challenges filed in the weeks before the midterms.
Data as of Al Jazeera report of October 27, 2026, by Al Jazeera staff with Reuters, read in full via browser in this run, is the source for the ruling, the ballot figure and the case posture; a Bloomberg headline in the feed pool, DOJ Bid for Fast Ruling in California Voting Case Rejected, is consistent on the expedited bid. The court order itself was not obtained. Single sourced in substance, grade C. Developing item.
Sources
- US court rules against Trump administration in California voting case - Al Jazeera, with Reuters - 2026-10-27