The US Justice Department asked an appeals court on Thursday to intervene in a lawsuit against California. They want to block the counting of over 20,000 mail-in ballots from voters who may not be citizens. The department took this step after a lower court judge did not rule by Thursday.
WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The US Justice Department asked an appeals court on Thursday to intervene in its lawsuit seeking to temporarily block California from counting more than 20,000 mail-in ballots from voters the Trump administration says are likely not US citizens.
The Justice Department asked the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to get involved before a lower-court judge ruled in the dispute.
Justice Department lawyers said the unusual maneuver was necessary because the judge assigned to the case, US District Judge David Carter, had not made a decision by Thursday afternoon, as the department had requested.
Carter scheduled a hearing for next week to consider the department's request for an emergency order to block California from counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 voters in the November 3 midterm elections until their citizenship status could be verified. The department said it interpreted Carter's lack of ruling as a "constructive denial" of its request.
The case is being closely watched as the administration of President Donald Trump seeks to exert greater control over the elections next month that will determine control of Congress.
In the US, individual states are in charge of running elections.