Judge Rejects Justice Department Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Ballots Six Days Before the Midterms

Second, the evidence. He questioned the government's numbers, pointing to Nevada, where an initial figure of up to 15,903 suspect voters fell to 185 after manual review, and all 185 turned out to be citizens, NBC reported. If noncitizen voting is suspected, he said in effect, prosecutors should bring charges. Carter referred to 28 indictments tied to a department announcement of charges against foreign nationals accused of election crimes in California.

The department leans mainly on a federal statute, 18 U.S.C. section 611, which California and Los Angeles County say is being stretched to direct how a state runs its election. When the Ninth Circuit turned the department away on Monday, Judge Bennett wrote that if states should add citizenship checks, the audience for that suggestion is Congress, not the courts.

What does the Justice Department say, and what happens next?

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the ruling leaves an emergency that "disenfranchises American citizens through dilution." He said the office would seek an emergency order from the Ninth Circuit. He also said the department is enforcing the rules rather than changing them mid-election.

The fight is not confined to California. Separately, the department asked Washington state to stop counting ballots from 400 voters it says are not citizens, Fox reported.

With ballots already arriving and the election days away, the Ninth Circuit now has very little time. We covered the early-vote picture a day earlier; the court's answer will shape how much of this fight is left on Election Day.