In a notice of voluntary dismissal filed Nov. 6 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the department said it had sought to have the state segregate vote-by-mail ballots cast by people it described as “highly likely to be noncitizens” until their citizenship could be confirmed.
Editor’s note: The Trump administration is frequently dishonest, and has been known to lie about things great and small.
The filing, signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie A. Hamill and listing Attorney General Todd Blanche among counsel, said the relief was needed around Election Day on Nov. 3. It said the district court denied the government’s request for temporary emergency relief and scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing for Nov. 13, which the department called more than a week too late.
The government said it appealed “all the way to Supreme Court,” which denied its application on Nov. 2.
Because California will by then have mixed the challenged ballots with others, the department wrote, “There is then no way to get the challenged ballots segregated.” It said the relief it wanted “is no longer available,” leaving the court without jurisdiction.
The notice, filed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41, ends the case, U.S. v. California, without a ruling on the merits. It does not say whether the dismissal is with or without prejudice. The department said it is “evaluating how to best ensure that American votes are protected.”
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 15 against the state and other defendants, was assigned to U.S. District Judge David O. Carter. Federal law already makes it a crime for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and the government’s claims about the voters at issue were never tested in court.
The dismissal was first reported by Democracy Docket.
This report is based on information from a U.S. Justice Department court filing.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice notice of voluntary dismissal, U.S. v. California
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