FILE PHOTO: An election worker processes ballots at Philadelphia's vote counting facility on Pennsylvania's primary election day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. April 23, 2024. REUTERS/Rachel Wisniewski
President Donald Trump’s Justice Department suffered a legal setback Monday after a federal appeals court ruled 2-1 against the administration’s effort to force California to set aside ballots from more than 20,000 voters suspected of being noncitizens.
Legal analyst Kyle Chesney pointed out the unusual split in a post on X: Trump-appointed Judge Mark Bennett joined Biden-appointed Judge Gabriel Sanchez in the majority, while Judge Patrick Bumatay, a Trump appointee, dissented.
“The United States’s claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one,” the majority wrote in the 91-page order.
CNN correspondent Katelyn Polantz reported Monday that the dispute now returns to the trial court, where a hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
“The A.A.R.P. plaintiffs acted as promptly as they could; the United States, here, has not,” the appeals court’s majority wrote.
California officials have challenged the reliability of the federal government’s voter data.
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