The fight to bar California from counting over 20,000 votes by alleged non-citizens has been blocked by a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge David Carter rejected the DOJ’s request for a temporary restraining order against California that would have stopped the state from counting the suspect mail ballots.

Carter, appointed by Bill Clinton, argued that the election is “already underway” in a ruling issued Wednesday night, Fox News reported.

“[The DOJ’s request] would wreak havoc and disrupt the election that is already underway, create a chilling effect on election workers and voters alike, and discount the votes of United States citizens.”

U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli immediately announced it would appeal the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

“The district court denied our emergency request to sequester ballots from 20,000 suspected noncitizens,” Essayli wrote on X. “Every day, more ballots are processed by election officials. This ongoing emergency disenfranchises American citizens through dilution. The Solicitor General authorized an immediate appeal. We filed our Notice of Appeal and will immediately seek an emergency order from the Ninth Circuit.”

The district court denied our emergency request to sequester ballots from 20,000 suspected noncitizens. Every day, more ballots are processed by election officials. This ongoing emergency disenfranchises American citizens through dilution. The Solicitor General authorized an immediate appeal. We filed our Notice of Appeal and will immediately seek an emergency order from the Ninth Circuit.

— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) October 29, 2026

Essayli also set the record straight against a claim that the DOJ used “mysterious database methods” in its bid against California.

There are no mysterious databases. This was laid out in publicly filed declarations. Voter rolls were compared to USCIS immigration, Social Security, and passport records.

We are not changing the rules mid-election, we are enforcing them. It’s unlawful for noncitizens to vote.

— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) October 29, 2026

California’s long and convoluted voting process has made it impossible to tell which ballot belongs to a particular voter, LA officials argued, according to Fox.

“California mails ballots to all 23 million of its registered voters,” Fox reported. “More than 3.7 million people have already voted in the state, including more than 500,000 ballots already processed this week with the ballot already out of the envelope, according to court filings.”

“Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable,” Judge Carter wrote. “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. This Court declines to be a party to such process.”

Lasting harm also occurs when an illegal alien cancels out a U.S. citizen’s valid vote, as many X users noted and provided some thoughtful insight:

It’s not fair that my legal vote is canceled out by an illegal alien’s illegal vote in California. 😢

— SheIsSealed!🙏 (@Frisky_gaijing) October 29, 2026

I live in California
I am born and raised here
Please keep going! @USAttyEssayli
Only American citizens should be voting in our elections.
I still can’t understand why this is even controversial.
IT’S THE LAW 🇺🇸

— KMS (@musickristine) October 29, 2026

And then the ninth circuit will deny it and it’ll have to go to the Supreme Court.

California is denying me and every single American citizen our civil rights by allowing illegal ballots to dilute and cancel out our votes.

This HAS to stop.

— Stella X (@Stellaaa) October 29, 2026

@feeltheinferno @USAttyEssayli Bingo. That was the plan all along.

— Stella X (@Stellaaa) October 29, 2026

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