US Midterms: Trump’s 100+ Voter Subpoenas Challenged as Judge Rejects California Ballot Block

The Trump administration has issued more than 100 subpoenas for voter records in at least 13 states ahead of next week’s US midterm elections, and a federal judge has now rejected its bid to block thousands of California ballots. The moves have set off a legal fight over voting rights just days before Americans vote.

Reuters reports the subpoenas demand records on tens of thousands of voters, most issued in the past three months to state and local election officials. The administration says it is hunting for unlawful voting by noncitizens, which is illegal in federal elections. Voting experts say there is scant evidence that noncitizen voting is widespread.

Judge rejects California ballot block

On Wednesday, US District Judge David Carter rejected a Justice Department request to stop California from counting mail ballots from a list of 20,000 voters the government claims are noncitizens. The ruling came six days before the midterm elections on Tuesday 3 November.

Judge Carter wrote that never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, tried to force a state to abandon its own constitutional election procedures. The Justice Department has appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

ACLU lawsuit over naturalised citizens

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other civil rights groups filed a separate lawsuit on Wednesday in California federal court. It challenges the administration’s “Unlawful Voter Initiative”, saying it illegally intimidates naturalised US citizens and could deny them their ballots.

The lawsuit says the government is using flawed and outdated data. In one example, California reviewed 200 registrations from the federal list and found nearly 40 per cent appeared to belong to US-born citizens. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter has admitted the lists could include citizens, saying: “We’re not perfect.”

Why it matters for the midterms

Legal experts warn the records could be used to challenge results in close midterm races, even though such challenges are seen as weak. Reuters counted at least 147 people accused of noncitizen voting since President Trump returned to office, 102 of them since the start of September. The Justice Department’s 26 October announcement alone listed 48 people charged, 47 of them green card holders.

President Trump has repeatedly claimed noncitizen voting is widespread, a claim researchers have widely debunked. His Republican Party is fighting to keep control of both houses of Congress in Tuesday’s vote.

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