Judge lets California count 20,000 disputed mail ballots
Why it matters: The ruling rebuffed a late federal push to segregate votes days before the Nov. 3 midterms.
A federal judge in Los Angeles denied the Justice Department’s emergency bid to stop California from processing mail ballots tied to more than 20,000 registered voters the Trump administration claims are likely noncitizens. U.S. District Judge David Carter ruled on Oct. 28 that the last-minute request would interfere with state control over elections and risk disenfranchising eligible voters. California officials argued the federal list was unreliable and that pulling ballots aside while voting was already underway would be unlawful and unworkable. The case is one of several unusual pre-election actions by the Justice Department, which also sought steps in Washington state and Alaska ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms.