Ninth Circuit orders California to respond to DOJ noncitizen ballot plea

A federal appeals court ordered California to respond by noon Saturday to the Trump administration’s emergency request involving roughly 20,000 mail-in ballots sent to people the Justice Department suspects are noncitizens ahead of the midterm elections.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued the order late Friday after the DOJ filed an emergency request earlier in the day seeking a ruling by Saturday.

The Justice Department sought emergency relief from the appeals court after U.S. District Judge David Carter did not rule by a deadline previously requested by the department.

The DOJ is asking California election officials to set aside ballots associated with individuals on its list while their eligibility is reviewed, rather than allowing the ballots to be processed alongside other votes.

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In its emergency filing, the DOJ emphasized the urgency of its request.

“This is an emergency,” the filing, submitted by Attorney General Todd Blanche and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, stated.

“Every minute of processing that occurs without segregating the ballots of suspected non-eligible voters causes untraceable disenfranchisement and dilution of the votes of United States citizens,” the filing continued.

Despite the Ninth Circuit’s order, a hearing before Judge Carter remains scheduled for Tuesday, according to ‘ Matt Finn. It remains unclear whether the appeals court will rule before that hearing.

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Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, appears at a news conference at the Spring Street Courthouse on Aug. 13, 2026. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Essayli previously told Digital that federal investigators have evidence showing the 20,000 individuals received mail-in ballots in October.

His office sued California last week seeking a court order to prevent ballots returned by those individuals from being counted.

“We’re not asking California to take any drastic steps other than to sequester the ballots from the suspected noncitizens,” Essayli said in an interview Wednesday. “We believe it’s at a minimum of 20,000. That’s the floor.”

Essayli also clashed with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on social media this week over the state’s safeguards against noncitizen voting.

Essayli accused California of allowing noncitizens onto its voter rolls because of what he described as inadequate citizenship verification procedures, while Newsom defended the integrity of the state’s elections and maintained that California was following the law.

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In this photo, an official vote by mail ballot, mailed to a Southern California resident ahead of the general election is seen on Oct. 17, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. (Jay L Clendenin/Getty Images)

California election officials have rejected the Justice Department’s demands.

In court filings, they argued that county election offices lack both the authority and access to federal records needed to verify voters’ citizenship status.

They also said separating ballots associated with people on the DOJ’s list would be impossible in cases where the ballots have already been processed.

California officials say that once a mail-in ballot’s signature has been verified, the ballot is separated from its identifying envelope and processed with other ballots.

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According to court records, officials have already processed 331,000 ballots in Los Angeles County alone.

Friday’s escalation comes after Essayli’s office initially filed the suit Oct. 15, roughly two weeks after California began mailing ballots.

Digital’s James Cirrone contributed to this report.