Washington drops lawsuit over California ballot counting
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Sowetan and TimesLIVE
The Trump administration withdraws its lawsuit seeking to prevent California from counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 voters suspected of not being US citizens. The withdrawal comes after the midterm elections and the Supreme Court's refusal to temporarily block the count, Reuters reports.
The US Department of Justice withdrew on Friday its lawsuit seeking to prevent California from counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 voters whom federal officials suspected of not being US citizens, Reuters reports. The withdrawal comes after the midterm elections, in which Democrats won decisive victories in all statewide races and in most congressional districts.
The US Supreme Court had rejected on Monday, the day before the election, the federal government's request to temporarily block the counting of these ballots. In its notice of withdrawal, the Justice Department said the requested relief was no longer available once the votes had been counted. It had previously argued before federal courts that the disputed ballots could no longer be separated from other votes once accepted, which was why it had sought urgent action.
Federal judge David Carter had expressed reservations about the proceedings, saying they could deprive eligible voters of their right to vote and create confusion, and describing the request as a “monumental change” to electoral procedures while voting was already under way.
