2 minPolitics
Федеральний апеляційний суд відхилив спробу Мін'юсту заблокувати 20 000 бюлетенів у Каліфорнії
Federal appeals judges rejected the Justice Department's bid to block about 20,000 disputed California mail-in ballots from being counted in next week's elections.
A federal appeals court has rejected the Justice Department's effort to block roughly 20,000 disputed mail-in ballots in California from being counted in next week's elections, a significant setback for the administration's challenge to the state's voter rolls.
The department's lawsuit accused California state officials of failing to meet a 48-hour deadline to review thousands of names that the administration considered suspicious. Federal prosecutors argued that the state's handling of those records created a risk that ineligible voters could cast ballots in the coming election.
The appeals panel declined to grant the emergency relief the Justice Department sought, allowing the contested ballots to remain eligible for counting under existing state procedures. The ruling came even though the court acknowledged serious questions raised during the proceedings, according to reporting on the decision.
The case centers on the broader dispute between federal authorities and California election officials over how voter eligibility is verified before a national contest. State officials have maintained that their review procedures comply with the law and that they moved to examine the flagged records within the time available to them.
The decision means that the disputed ballots will proceed through the normal counting process next week, while the underlying litigation over voter verification continues. Election administrators in the state are expected to follow the court's order as the vote tabulation approaches.
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