A federal appeals court on Sunday expressed skepticism over the Trump administration’s bid to require California to set aside mail-in ballots from voters whom the government suspected of being noncitizens.
The Ninth Circuit of Appeals held an emergency teleconference hearing after the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a notice of appeal seeking the court’s intervention.
During the hearing, Circuit Judge Mark Bennett said California has the authority under the elections clause to determine how it conducts elections, including how it sorts out votes from noncitizens.
“Congress has not directly changed what the legislature has adopted, which they had the right to do. And it seems to me you want us to issue an injunction that is entirely inconsistent with the law the California legislature has adopted pursuant to the Elections Clause,” the circuit judge said….