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Appeals court again rejects DOJ’s bid to segregate over 20,000 alleged noncitizen ballots in California

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Cite

Grumbach, G. (2026, October 30). Appeals court again rejects DOJ’s bid to segregate over 20,000 alleged noncitizen ballots in California. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/appeals-court-rejects-justice-department-noncitizen-ballots-rcna606604

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NBC News · collected 2026-10-30 · by Gary Grumbach

Quick Summary

A federal appeals court has again denied the Trump administration’s attempt to compel California to segregate over 20,000 ballots suspected of being cast by noncitizens. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court ruled that such action would cause significant disruption and lacks legal justification. Judge David Carter previously rejected a similar request from the Department of Justice, questioning its methodology and noting inconsistencies in previous cases where initial estimates were drastically reduced after further review.
Written by AI on 2026-10-30, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of October 30, 2026, a federal appeals court in California rejected the Justice Department's latest bid to force the state to set aside over 20,000 mail-in ballots from individuals suspected of being noncitizens, just days before the midterm elections. The department initially sued California on October 15, alleging that these individuals were unlawfully registered to vote and sought a court order to prevent their ballots from being counted until citizenship status was verified.

The Justice Department had sent Los Angeles County officials a list of suspected noncitizen voters via a password-protected thumb drive, demanding they confirm the citizenship status of anyone on this list. However, California officials refused to comply with the request, arguing that it lacked credible evidence and could disenfranchise eligible voters. The appeals court’s rejection marks the second time in less than a week that such efforts have been denied.

This legal battle has raised concerns about voter suppression tactics and the politicization of election integrity measures, particularly as criticism mounts against the Justice Department's handling of these allegations. California officials, including Governor Gavin Newsom, argue that this move is an attempt to undermine public confidence in the electoral process ahead of the elections.

Written for “DOJ Subpoena Battle Over California Ballots” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 73 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.45, but all 3 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 118344: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-30

Story

📰 DOJ Subpoena Battle Over California Ballots
Politics · 74 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 30% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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⚖️ Centre Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 70/100
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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 5 of 32 claims Outlet record 66/100
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⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 4 of 31 claims Outlet record 60/100
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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 4 claims Outlet record 70/100
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Toronto Star
Hedges 4 of 27 claims Outlet record 64/100
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Hedges 3 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 23 claims Outlet record 60/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
30%
6 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
60/100
NBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
74
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-30 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

NBC News · 1927 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)
2026-10-29
Manhunt grows for escaped murderer who may have left area where truck was ditched

Who wrote this

Gary Grumbach
6 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the Trump administration’s latest bid to force California to set aside ballots from over 20,000 people it alleges might be noncitizens.
2026-10-30 · mixed framing · Appeals court again rejects DOJ’s bid to segregate over 20,000 alleged noncitizen ballots in California
🔮 Lawyers for the DOJ had said in a filing earlier this month that Trump would be claiming executive privilege, but he did not formally do so until Wednesday.
2026-10-15 · assertive framing · Trump invokes executive privilege in Kennedy Center court fight
🔮 For the first time in the nearly 50-year history of the event, the Kennedy Center Honors will not be held inside the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts this year, the center announced Friday.
2026-10-02 · assertive framing · Kennedy Center Honors to be held off-site for the first time in the ceremony’s history
🔮 The facility will be built off 15th Street in Sherman Park, with an entrance that leads below ground for screening and allows visitors to exit by the East Wing of the White House, the site of the president’s more controversial ballroom project.
2026-10-01 · assertive framing · Federal commission approves construction plans for White House visitor screening center
🔮 The trio of news outlets that President Donald Trump abruptly banned from accessing the White House will be in court Wednesday to argue their expulsion was unconstitutional and should be lifted immediately.
2026-09-23 · assertive framing · CNN, Politico and MS NOW to face off with Trump administration in court over White House ban
🔮 A federal judge Thursday blocked a Postal Service regulation that would exert control over mail-in ballots ahead of the midterm elections in the latest setback on the issue for President Donald Trump.
2026-08-28 · assertive framing · Judge blocks Trump’s Postal Service regulation on mail-in ballots
Also by Gary Grumbach
Trump invokes executive privilege in Kennedy Center court fight
2026-10-15 · NBC News
Kennedy Center Honors to be held off-site for the first time in the ceremony’s history
2026-10-02 · NBC News
Federal commission approves construction plans for White House visitor screening center
2026-10-01 · NBC News
CNN, Politico and MS NOW to face off with Trump administration in court over White House ban
2026-09-23 · NBC News
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 6 articles by Gary Grumbach →

Topics

California Nevada States The United States U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

Subjects

California GPE · 4× Trump PERSON · 3× Nevada GPE · 2× Biden PERSON · 1× Gabriel Sanchez PERSON · 1× Mark Bennet PERSON · 1× Patrick Bumatay PERSON · 1× States GPE · 1× The United States GPE · 1× U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ORG · 1×

Narrative

Kristen Clarke, general counsel of the NAACP, which was involved in defending the case, said in a statement, “The Department of Justice sought to throw out the voices of more than 20,000 Californians without credible evidence and outside the established safeguards that protect voters’ rights.”
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-30
🔮 A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the Trump administration’s latest bid to force California to set aside ballots from over 20,000 people it alleges might be noncitizens.
2026-10-30 · NBC News
Appeals court again rejects DOJ’s bid to segregate over 20,000 alleged noncitizen ballots in California · mixed framing

Claims (20 extracted, 6 hedged)

A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the Trump administration’s latest bid to force California to set aside ballots from over 20,000 people it alleges might be noncitizens. uncertain
it → reject → people
The “United States has not made the required showing that such extraordinary relief, during an ongoing election, is clearly required by law,” a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel found in a 2-1 ruling. asserted
panel → make → ruling
“As the district court found—and we discern no clear error—there is no feasible way to identify and segregate the ballots of specific individuals without potentially catastrophic effects on the entire system.” asserted
we → find → system
The dissenting judge, Trump appointee Patrick Bumatay, wrote that what the government had been suggesting is a “modest” remedy. asserted
suggesting → dissent → what
“The federal government and the States can work together. asserted
government → work → ?
California decided long ago that aliens can’t vote in its elections. asserted
aliens → decide → elections
Today, the federal government merely seeks to safeguard that decision. asserted
government → seek → decision
We should have let them try,” he wrote. asserted
he → let → ?
It was the second time in a week the appeals court panel had rejected a request from the administration to intervene in the case. asserted
panel → reject → case
The administration filed suit earlier this month demanding California election officials set aside over 20,000 ballots it contended may have been sent from noncitizens. uncertain
it → file → noncitizens
In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Carter found the request “violates longstanding constitutional principles mandating that states have control over their elections.” “If Plaintiff’s last-minute request for relief were granted, either party could create chaos for their own political purposes to disrupt the election process,” he ruled. uncertain
he → find → process
Carter also questioned the administration’s methodology in coming up with its list of names, and noted that the Department of Homeland Security had claimed in July that the number of noncitizens who were registered to vote in California was closer to 200,000. asserted
who → question → 200,000
“Given the vagueness of Plaintiff’s descriptions of its procedures and the unreliability of its similar claims in other states, the Court cannot conclude that Plaintiff’s process is credible,” the judge wrote. uncertain
judge → give → states
He also pointed to similar claims the administration had made in Nevada, where it had alleged there were 15,903 registered voters as noncitizens. uncertain
it → point → noncitizens
They “later reduced that number to 6,218, and then to 185 after conducting its manual review. asserted
They → reduce → review
Nevada officials later confirmed that all 185 individuals were citizens,” the judge wrote. asserted
judge → confirm → ?
In its earlier ruling, the appeals court judges also pushed back on the government’s claim it needed to step in on an emergency basis, saying it was “at least in part, a self-constructed one” because it had waited it until far too close to the election to intervene. uncertain
it → push → election
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling or whether it planned to file an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. asserted
it → respond → Court
Kristen Clarke, general counsel of the NAACP, which was involved in defending the case, said in a statement, “The Department of Justice sought to throw out the voices of more than 20,000 Californians without credible evidence and outside the established safeguards that protect voters’ rights.” asserted
that → involve → rights
“Today’s decision sends a clear message: our elections must be governed by facts, law, and constitutional principles, not political interference or voter suppression,” the statement said. asserted
statement → send → facts
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