The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has formally requested that the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals intervene in an ongoing legal dispute regarding California’s election procedures. The federal government is seeking a temporary injunction to prevent the state from processing or counting more than 20,000 mail-in ballots that the Trump administration asserts were cast by individuals who are not U.S. citizens.

This legal action follows a previous attempt to address the matter at a lower court level. The DOJ’s motion argues that the inclusion of these specific ballots could compromise the integrity of the election results, necessitating immediate judicial oversight. The core of the dispute centers on the verification process for mail-in ballots and the federal government's authority to challenge state-level election administration when it suspects non-citizen participation.

As of this report, the Ninth Circuit has not yet issued a ruling on the DOJ’s request for intervention. The legal battle highlights a broader tension between federal oversight of election security and the autonomy of states to manage their own voting systems. While the DOJ maintains that the intervention is necessary to ensure only eligible voters participate, the state of California has historically defended its verification protocols as sufficient to prevent illegal voting. The court's decision on whether to grant the injunction will likely set a significant precedent for how federal courts handle challenges to state ballot counting procedures in the lead-up to election certification.