Rob Bonta said the Ninth Circuit ruled for California on Friday against the federal government’s attempt to make election officials segregate and not count mail-in ballots from about 20,000 people it calls “likely” noncitizens.
Bonta described it as his office’s third win in a week. Voting in the California election is already under way, and Election Day is 3 November.
The Ninth Circuit’s opinion in No. 26-7231 is marked for publication and was filed on 30 October. A separate opinion in the case set out a different view: its author would have held California’s actions preempted under 18 U.S.C. § 611(a) and enjoined the state from commingling its ballots.
Bonta said he filed his opposition on Friday morning to the federal government’s emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal. The court’s opinion records that the motion was filed on 29 October.
The state argued that the Purcell principle bars court-ordered changes to election rules close to an election when they threaten to confuse voters and disrupt administration. It also argued that the US Constitution gives states and Congress, not the President or the executive branch, the power to regulate the time, place and manner of elections.
The state added that granting the request would undermine states’ authority to run elections and burden election officials and voters.
The United States sued on 15 October, according to the opinion, about two weeks before the midterm election. Ballots had been mailed to all registered voters on 1 October.
On Monday 26 October the Ninth Circuit dismissed the government’s first appeal. Bonta said the court held that the government had not given the district court adequate time to consider its request. The opinion in that earlier appeal is reported as No. 26-7070.
On Wednesday 28 October the US District Court for the Central District of California denied a temporary restraining order. Bonta said the administration had itself admitted the list could include several US citizens.
The Ninth Circuit’s opinion records that the district court held a hearing on 27 October and issued its order the next day.
Bonta quoted the order as saying: “[e]roded trust in our democracy is irreparable. Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred.”
He also said the court had earlier found the government’s “methodology in creating the list was vague and raised multiple questions regarding reliability.”
The state’s account of the list
Bonta said the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder reviewed 200 names from the list. More than half had cancelled or inactive registrations, 38.9% listed a US birthplace and 71.2% had no voting history.
In Mendocino County, he said, the Clerk-Recorder found that every individual on the list supplied by the federal government lived outside the county.
Bonta also said the administration alleged in July 2026 that California had more than 190,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls, then cut the figure to about 20,000, a 90% reduction, before suing.
“California law makes it illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and there are several state laws that guard against it,” Bonta said. “That is why it is exceptionally rare.”
Governor Gavin Newsom said the administration “just lost for the third time this week” and that the state would “continue to fight them on their illegal power grabs every step of the way.”
Bonta said earlier in the week that his office would also press a motion to dismiss the federal government’s lawsuit in the district court.