24SEP

DOJ seeks to freeze 20,000 mail ballots

3 min read

11:45UTC

The Justice Department renewed its emergency bid on 21 October to make California set aside ballots sent to 20,000 voters it calls likely non-citizens. Los Angeles County says many on the list were born in the US.

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PoliticsAssessed

Key takeaway

DOJ wants California ballots held back for 20,000 listed voters, but has charged 28 of them.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) renewed its emergency application on 21 October for a temporary restraining order (TRO) requiring California to set aside mail ballots sent to more than 20,000 registered voters it lists as "likely" non-citizens⁠¹. A TRO is a short-term order a judge can grant before a full hearing. The case moved that day to Judge David O. Carter of the federal court for California's Central District, and DOJ asked him for an expedited ruling. The Los Angeles registrar has asked the Court to throw the case out without a trial; that motion is set for hearing on 30 October. No ruling on the TRO appears on the docket.

The demand began with DOJ letters on 13 October to Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County registrar Dean Logan. They set the two officials a two-day deadline to withhold unsent ballots and keep returned ones from being verified or counted. Weber refused and DOJ sued on 15 October⁠². When DOJ wrote again on 16 October warning state and county election officials of legal consequences, Donald Trump reposted the letter with: "They will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!"⁠³ Every earlier federal fight over voter eligibility this cycle concerned names on rolls. This one reaches ballots already returned.

On 19 October DOJ charged 28 lawful permanent residents across California's four federal districts, with offences from misdemeanour voting by a non-citizen to false statements on naturalisation applications⁠⁴. These are green-card holders: they live in the US legally but are not citizens. DOJ says 22 voted, one cast a provisional ballot and five only registered, in elections from 2020 to June 2026. A provisional ballot is held back until officials confirm the voter's eligibility. DOJ says all 28 appear on its list; they are accused, not convicted. "Every illegal vote cancels out the vote of a lawful American citizen," said Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter⁠⁵.

The 28 make up at most 0.14% of the list. Los Angeles County's 20 October court filing says over a quarter of the 7,000-plus listed voters at its addresses gave a US place of birth. It says nearly 40% of a sample of entries were registrations already cancelled, and most had never cast a ballot⁠⁶. All these figures come from parties to the case, and none proves the list right or wrong.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

In California, every registered voter gets a ballot in the post. The federal Justice Department says more than 20,000 of those voters are probably not US citizens, who may not vote in federal elections. It wants a judge to order the state to set those ballots aside, even ones already posted back, until citizenship is checked. California and Los Angeles County say the list is wrong for many people on it. A temporary restraining order is a quick, short-term court order made before a full hearing. No judge has granted one.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

DOJ's earlier route to non-citizen registrants ran through the voter rolls, and that route has closed.

Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ruled on 9 October that DOJ acted unlawfully in collecting state rolls and demanding removals through the SAVE citizenship database, and the National Voter Registration Act's 90-day quiet period bars systematic removals this close to a federal election.

California law now sends a mail ballot to every active registered voter. Any name on the roll therefore has a ballot in circulation, which turns a dispute about who is registered into a dispute about which ballots count.

The list's method has not been published. LA County's finding that many listed voters gave a US birthplace suggests matching against records that do not show later naturalisation or birth in the US, though the filings do not say how DOJ built it.

Escalation

Rising. DOJ moved from letters on 13 October to a lawsuit on 15 October, a restraining-order application on 19 October and a renewed one on 21 October. A dismissal hearing on 30 October is the next fixed point.

What could happen next?

Consequence
Judge Carter's ruling on the restraining order, or the 30 October dismissal hearing, will decide whether any California ballots are set aside before polling day.
Immediate · Assessed
Precedent
An order to hold back returned ballots on DOJ's list would give the department a model to use against other states that mail ballots to all voters.
Medium term · Suggested
Risk
If set-aside ballots include citizens, as LA County's sample suggests, eligible voters could miss the window to prove their status.
Short term · Suggested

Source Landscape

This story draws on neutral-leaning sources from United States

United States

LeftRight

Primary parallel: On 6 November 2020, Justice Samuel Alito ordered Pennsylvania counties to keep mail ballots that arrived after polling day apart from the rest, at the Pennsylvania Republican Party's request. The ballots were kept apart while the challenge went on, and the Supreme Court later declined to take the case, so it never ruled them invalid.

Counter-parallel: On 2 November 2020, Judge Andrew Hanen in Houston refused a Republican request to throw out drive-through votes already cast in Harris County, Texas. Hanen found the challengers lacked standing, and Harris County counted the votes.

Consensus view: Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan's 20 October filing attacks the list itself: over a quarter of the 7,000-plus listed voters at county addresses gave a US place of birth, nearly 40% of sampled entries were registrations already cancelled, and most had never voted. On that evidence the list sweeps in citizens and dead entries alongside any non-citizens.

Counter-view: Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter says California must check the citizenship of all 20,000-plus registrants before their mail ballots are counted, and First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli says the state is mailing ballots to non-citizens. DOJ points to the 28 people it charged on 19 October, all of whom it says are on the list.

Key tension: Whether a federal judge will order a state to stop counting returned ballots on a standalone Supremacy Clause claim, with no federal statute that names that remedy, less than two weeks before polling day.

First Reported In

Update #21 · Senate GOP's cash lead trails its $20m loan

US Department of Justice· 22 Oct 2026

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Causes and effects

Caused by

Judge voids DOJ's SAVE voter-roll policy

Earlier federal voter-eligibility fights concerned names on rolls; the California case concerns ballots.

Occurred 9 Oct 2026

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Judge dismisses DOJ's Georgia voter suit

DOJ's Georgia voter-list suit was an earlier roll fight before the California ballot demand.

Occurred 30 Sept 2026

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This Event

DOJ seeks to freeze 20,000 mail ballots

DOJ's demand reaches ballots already returned, where every earlier federal eligibility fight this cycle concerned names on voter rolls.

Led to

Democrats sue Trump over his jail repost

The DSCC v. Trump complaint cites DOJ's California letters and Trump's jail repost.

Occurred 20 Oct 2026

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9th Circuit sends DOJ ballot case back

The panel ruled on DOJ's appeal from its renewed bid for an order setting aside 20,000 California mail ballots.

Occurred 26 Oct 2026

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Judge Carter refuses DOJ's ballot demand

Carter and the 9th Circuit refused the demand DOJ renewed on 21 October.

Occurred 30 Oct 2026

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Judge Carter closes DOJ's ballot suit

The suit DOJ renewed on 21 October was the one Carter closed on 10 November.

Occurred 10 Nov 2026

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Different Perspectives

University of Florida Election Lab

The lab, run by Michael McDonald, estimates about 124.3 million ballots, a raw midterm record, and turnout of about 49.4% of eligible voters, second to 2018's 50.05%. The raw record reflects population growth more than a record rate, so the late count is working through a near-2018 electorate.

Thune's critics on the right, including Senator Ron Johnson

Ron Johnson backed the failed 31-15 motion to delay Thune's re-election, after activists such as Mike Cernovich blamed the leader for the defeat. Their complaint is that Republicans could have passed the SAVE Act; in January it meets a Democratic Senate instead.

Senator John Thune

Thune was re-elected Senate Republican leader by acclamation on 10 November after a motion to delay failed 31-15. He kept the filibuster that stopped the SAVE Act, the choice his critics on the right blame for the defeat.

House Republicans under Jim Jordan

House Republicans elected Jordan minority leader by 106 votes to 73 over Steve Scalise on 10 November, after Speaker Mike Johnson declined to run. They replaced the leadership that lost the majority, while Senate Republicans kept theirs.

Donald Trump

Trump asked on Truth Social on 9 November whether anybody believed the election "was honest" and blamed the machines, having told The New York Times on polling night he would accept the results. No Republican campaign had sued over a 2026 result by 10 November, so the claim has no case behind it.

Judge David O. Carter

Carter closed the Justice Department's suit over about 20,000 California mail ballots on 10 November after the department withdrew it, writing that the suit "attempted to disrupt an ongoing election". The closure leaves the department with no court order touching a 2026 California ballot.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.