Appeals Court Declines to Block California From Counting Mail Ballots
A federal appeals court on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, denied a request from the Trump administration's Justice Department to block California from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters that the federal government says are likely noncitizens. The ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, came ahead of the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3.
The 9th Circuit is one of the federal appeals courts that review decisions made by lower federal courts. The case, listed as No. 26-7070, is titled USA v. State of California, et al., and is a civil case from the Los Angeles region of the court's Central California division.
The Justice Department sued earlier in October, naming both California and Los Angeles County as defendants. The department said it had identified more than 20,000 likely noncitizens on the state's voter rolls and asked for a court order to stop California from counting vote-by-mail ballots from those people for the time being. Vote-by-mail ballots are ballots sent to voters' homes rather than cast at a polling place. The lawsuit was part of what the Guardian described as an escalation in the administration's dispute with California over elections.
The department then asked the appeals court to step in while the case proceeded. Reuters reported that request on Oct. 23. The same day, according to the Guardian's reporting, at least 18 counties across California received letters demanding that local election officials set aside and verify ballots that the Trump administration claims belong to noncitizen voters.
Fortune reported that two of the three judges on the appeals panel appeared skeptical of the Justice Department's lawsuit. CNN also reported that the judges' questioning during arguments had been skeptical of the government's position.
The dispute comes as Republicans seek to retain control of Congress in the midterms. Separately, the Justice Department has pursued criminal cases tied to California's elections. On Oct. 18, it charged 28 foreign nationals in connection with California election crimes.
