US Federal Judge Rejects Trump Bid to Block 20,000 Mail-In Ballots

According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, U.S. federal judge David Carter on Wednesday rejected a request from Donald Trump’s administration to isolate mail-in ballots from roughly 20,000 individuals whom the administration claimed were not U.S. citizens.

The federal judge stated that the Justice Department’s request conflicted with constitutional principles regarding states’ authority to manage elections and could jeopardize the voting rights of eligible citizens. He also expressed doubts about the accuracy of the list compiled of non-citizen individuals and the validity of the method used to verify their information.

The Trump administration had asserted that these individuals, despite lacking U.S. citizenship, were registered on voter rolls and sought to prevent their ballots from being counted until their citizenship was confirmed. Federal and California laws prohibit non-citizens from voting.

California officials characterized the lawsuit as a political maneuver. A review of a sample of 200 cases from the government’s list revealed that more than half pertained to canceled or inactive registrations, and no ballots had been sent to these individuals.

The U.S. Justice Department announced its intention to appeal this ruling. This case emerges as the Trump administration has also taken steps in several other states to increase federal oversight of elections.