Judge David O. Carter denies DOJ bid to segregate 20,000 California ballots

newsOct 28, 2026256,155

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter on Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s request to set aside or segregate roughly 20,000 California mail ballots whose citizenship the Department of Justice questioned, calling the administration’s allegations "not credible." Carter wrote that the requested intervention would violate federal law, likely disenfranchise legitimate voters, sow chaos in the ongoing midterm election, and encourage future political meddling, and he added that never in American history has the federal government on the eve of an election sought to coerce state and local election procedures. The ruling followed a 3½-hour hearing Tuesday and came after a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the government's emergency request earlier in the week. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, who argued for the DOJ, filed notice of appeal and said the administration will immediately seek an emergency order from the 9th Circuit. Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta praised the decision, with Newsom calling it a check on what he described as authoritarian attempts to remain in power. Carter, an appointee of President Clinton, warned that granting the relief would allow either party to create chaos for political purposes. The immediate consequence is an appeal to the 9th Circuit, so the dispute over whether California must segregate those ballots will proceed to the appellate court.

Kyle Griffin

@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

Judge David Carter: "Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government … the Executive would have this Court believe that it reigns as a sole sovereign. But California and its people are sovereign, too."

30664h ago

barbarism decliner29

Judge Carter in 3 days: still, I assume the federal government is acting in good faith

Polly Dogood15

The Constitution gives "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections" to the States, and the power to alter them to Congress. The Executive is not in the sentence. Nor is the word sovereign anywhere in the document. One cannot reign as sole sovereign over a clause that does not mention one.

Blackbird ✨🐦‍⬛💙11

Props to all the judges holding the line for this country! Patriots, all of them.

Peter Principle6

9th circuit panel has already tipped its hand, so i'll assume this very will soon be yet another case on the SCOTUS emergency docket . . .

j-waller55.bsky.social5

Judge Carter is one of the good judges. L.A.'s accidental homelessness 'czar'? Judge David O. Carter - Los Angeles Times share.google/paRnSqSbfiNI...

Adam Bowen4

Also, this noncitizen voting thing is made up Republican garbage, just like everything else that comes from Republicans. Fuck all of them.

Quoting this

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy62

Love a judge who writes with clarity. 👩🏾‍🍳💋 #judgecarter

Zoomer Antimillenarian15

Actually, *once* before. And by the same wannabe dictator, too.

Wallachia rides again4

Check out this woke nonsense about sovereignty.

Salt Creek Regrets Opening Bsky3

"go harass Nebraska or something"

judyhampden.bsky.social3

I think this country is at war. With itself.

Joyce White Vance

@joycewhitevance.bsky.social

Judge Carter rejects the Trump administration's effort to interfere with 20,000 or more ballots in California. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

9074h ago

kristinekenyon.bsky.social8

Joyce I cannot stop happy dancing 💃 bsky.app/profile/kris...

Sal Santamaura5

I haven't yet read the full 26 pages, but just page one confirms my experience as a juror in Judge Carter's courtroom. He strictly follows the law and is a patriot of the first order. Bravo!

meta3

What he and his ridiculous lawyers are putting us through is indefensible. Shame on them forever.

G. Spelvin3

I feel like 20,000 ballots has to be above the felony threshold.

Beverly Mann2

Joyce, given that the federal government has (as I understand it) no legal role to play in the administration of elections, what Trump is doing here (I presume) isn't immune from federal criminal prosecution, much less from state prosecution, right? bsky.app/profile/klas...

bakertrade.bsky.social2

It’s such a shame that this is even possible. Taking up courts’ time for a charlatan & thief who’d do anything to avoid accountability. How far we’ve fallen. But the climb out of this miasma begins Nov 3. Vote BLUE!!! 🌊🌊🌊🌊

Quoting this

Paulette Feeney ❌️👑15

Yes! This is good news.

Marc Elias

@marcelias.bsky.social

NEW: A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have forced California to set aside and not count ballots from 20,000 people the Department of Justice alleges may be noncitizens. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

6082h ago

John Locke of Boston 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇬🇱🇺🇦🇪🇺3

And by “alleges” the DOJ means that it made it up with absolutely no evidence or substantiation whatsoever.

AGuyinNJ3

Good! This shit is so transparently about interference and not security. (Except securing his power by ensuring only n his chosen win.)

Democracy Docket

@democracydocket.com

U.S. District Judge David Carter: "Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable. Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred. If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger."

5414h ago

Democracy Docket73

Coverage like this doesn't happen without support from our readers. Subscribe for free or become a member to back our work directly: https://demdock.com/4eYSba1

Lisa2

Thank you all for your hard work. We all owe you a debt of gratitude for fighting so diligently to save our democracy and country.

Sal Santamaura1

Thank you Judge Carter, a superb jurist and true patriot.

Quoting this

Laurence - highest score ever in the Neasden Cognitive Test!!2

Listen, mate. Your democracy has been in danger since the start of 2017. It has virtually collapsed since the start of 2025.

Chris Geidner

@chrisgeidner.bsky.social

BREAKING: Judge Carter DENIES DOJ’s request for a TRO in the Trump administration’s case against California alleging concerns about “likely noncitizens” voting. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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I. INTRODUCTION
This case is about the right of every American citizen to vote in a free and fair election.
Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election,
sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch. In bringing this lawsuit, the Executive would have this Court believe that it reigns as a sole sovereign. But California and its people
are sovereign, too.
The right to vote has long been understood as integral to both citizenship and participation in our democracy. Ronald Reagan described this right as "the crown jewel of American liberties, and we will not see its luster diminished." Remarks on Signing the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982 (June 19, 1982) (extending the Voting Rights Act of 1965).
But access to voting has always been contested. At the inception of our country, African Americans and women of all ethnicities were denied access to the ballot. Their push to be recognized as equal citizens of this nation led to the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870 and the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, which declared that the right to vote could not be denied due to someone's race or gender. But these amendments did not guarantee all citizens' enfranchisement in practice. Minority communities continued to fight for suffrage. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and other obstacles were further used to prevent individuals from casting their vote.

4874h ago

Chris Geidner41

UPDATE: DOJ has filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Elle Y.11

When will there be consequences for false filings and frivolous lawsuits?

Joey Ponzi5

As frustrated as I was by the cold bench (and let's be honest, most of that is the pleasure of seeing DOJ get bench-slapped in real time), he clearly had much of this already teed up. I respect it.

Quoting Unquoting4

That second graf is Biblical in its majesty

mossybadger.bsky.social4

"California and its people are sovereign too" goes hard.

Eryn Wyld3

Key: When this DOJ is denied on anything, that’s a good thing. I can’t believe it but that’s the way it is.

Quoting this

DodgerFanLA3

Also what this order shows me is I don’t have to overly stress about formatting my CA briefs because the formatting on this is atrocious

Governor Gavin Newsom

@governor.ca.gov

For the second time this week, our nation's legal system has rejected the Trump Administration's illegal attempts to interfere with states' ability to administer elections.

San Francisco Chronicle: "Federal judge shoots down DOJ attempt to sequester California ballots"

3202h ago

Governor Gavin Newsom153

No matter how desperately Trump tries to undermine California's sovereignty, we will continue to deliver a free and fair election that follows both state and federal law.

Rocketman1

Keep fighting. Trump will NEVER stop trying to take away votes.

Josh Gerstein

@joshgerstein.bsky.social

UPDATE: Trump admin has just appealed Judge Carter's denial of the TRO in CA suspected foreigner ballot fight to the 9th Circuit. So we are headed for a 2nd round there, after circuit rejected earlier preemptive appeal www.politico.com/news/2026/10...

622h ago

Eric Columbus7

Do you know if it goes back to the same panel?

Julie DiCaro

@juliedicaro.bsky.social

BREAKING: Judge David Carter has denied the federal government's petition for a Temporary Restraining Order, forcing California to segregate votes from voters the feds believe are non-citizens.

404h ago

Маyhew2

Which WOULD HAVE forced California to segregate

jrpurple.bsky.social1

I realize that every institution we have has failed us from 2015 to date, which can only mean they were designed to fall. That being said, I did not expect the US DOJ to descend so fast from being arguably the preeminent law department to an unethical irresponsible puppet.

Quoting this

Julie DiCaro43

To clarify, the judge denied the feds' request to FORCE CA to segregate ballots. The good guys win.

Hoon3

California wins against fascist Trump

geoffrey 💀 (scary now)

@parsnip.bsky.social

"Carter, an appointee of President Clinton, wrote that never in American history 'has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch,'

314h ago

skippyoz

@skippyoz.bsky.social

Just In: Judge Warns Trump DOJ to Stop Threatening Election Workers talkingpointsmemo.com/news/just-in...

1010h ago

leftynavyseal.bsky.social

@leftynavyseal.bsky.social

ABC: In another setback for Trump's attempt to steal the elections, Judge David Carter appoints Special Master to investigate the claims of DOJ in the California vote sequestration case.

1616h ago

The Calitaliano Kid 😎🇺🇦🗽

@moved2italy.bsky.social

California is Fighting Back as tRvmp’s #WeaponizedDOJ grabs 20,000 names at random to try and use against local election officials to threaten and coerce them into NOT doing their jobs‼️😡 And these sleazy tRvmp lawyers like Bill Essayli need to be sanctioned, held in… www.rawstory.com/justice-depa...

622h ago

Bernadette

@insolentpheasant.bsky.social

The decision is the latest legal setback for President Donald Trump in his efforts to expand federal control over state-run elections ahead of voting that will decide control of Congress for the rest of his term.

83h ago

Kevin Rector

@kevrector.bsky.social

Essayli — who's aggressively sparred w/ CA officials on social media for weeks — claimed in court that the fed gov has maintained a collaborative “tone” since asking CA to segregate ballots and he was surprised at how “adversarial” CA officials have been. www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

413h ago

dkn60.bsky.social

@dkn60.bsky.social

www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/... A federal judge gave the Trump admin a pointed warning amid the DOJ’s fight to dictate which ballots states can and can’t count.Trump’s DOJ has repeatedly threatened to prosecute election workers and even sent warnings to top election officials in all50states.

42h ago

3 sources

latimes.comJudge denies feds' request to block 20,000 California ballots in blistering opinion thehill.comDOJ’s California ballot fight rejected by another judge calmatters.orgFederal judge cites 'attempted election interference'; rejects setting aside California ballots

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Judge David O. Carter denies DOJ bid to segregate 20,000 California ballots

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