The Justice Department moved Friday, November 6, 2026, to dismiss its lawsuit over approximately 20,000 California voters suspected of being noncitizens, four days after the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's emergency appeal and a week before a judge was scheduled to examine the government's disputed voter list.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hamill told a federal judge in Los Angeles that the November 13 hearing would come too late to provide the relief prosecutors sought. Election officials would have already processed and mixed the disputed ballots with other votes, preventing the government from separating them for citizenship verification.
The dispute began when federal officials demanded on October 13 that California and Los Angeles County review a list of approximately 20,000 registered voters identified as likely noncitizens within 48 hours. State and county officials challenged the list's reliability, prompting the Justice Department to file suit October 15 seeking to have ballots associated with those voters set aside.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter rejected the government's emergency request on October 28, finding that the proposed intervention could disrupt the election and exclude eligible voters. He also questioned whether the executive branch could override California's election procedures, which are governed by state law and congressional authority under the Constitution.
A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit denied emergency relief on October 30, finding that federal prosecutors had failed to establish grounds for requiring California to change its ballot-counting procedures. The Supreme Court rejected the administration's final emergency request on November 2, without an accompanying opinion or noted dissents.
Carter then faced a separate question about the accuracy of the federal government's evidence. He had appointed a special master, an independent expert assigned by the court, to review how federal agencies compiled their list and whether the records supported allegations that thousands of registered California voters were ineligible.
California election officials had already identified discrepancies in the data, including records associated with people who appeared to be U.S. citizens. In related litigation, a federal appeals court judge noted that government attorneys had acknowledged problems with the list's reliability.
The dispute also raised questions about the federal government's authority over state elections. Although federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal contests, the 9th Circuit found that the prohibition did not give federal officials authority to override California's election procedures. Carter also raised concerns about federal protections against last-minute changes that could improperly exclude eligible voters.
The DOJ's dismissal request came before the special master's planned examination of the disputed records. Hamill argued that further proceedings would serve little purpose because the ballots could no longer be separated in the manner prosecutors had requested.
Federal authorities are continuing separate investigations into suspected unlawful voter registration in California. Prosecutors have arrested more than 30 noncitizens accused of registering illegally, some of whom also face allegations of voting in previous elections. Election officials across the state have also received grand jury subpoenas seeking voter records and testimony.
Those investigations are separate from the ballot lawsuit, while federal prosecutors continue pursuing potential violations of election law through criminal proceedings.
