LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Department of Justice moved to dismiss its own lawsuit on Friday, effectively ending a high-profile legal battle that sought to prevent California from counting roughly 20,000 ballots it alleged were cast by noncitizens.
The surprise filing comes just days after the midterm elections and only one week before a court-appointed special master was scheduled to begin an evaluation of the disputed voter list. The motion to dismiss represents a significant retreat for the federal government, which had spent weeks attempting to intervene in California’s election administration.
In its filing, the Justice Department conceded that the central objective of the lawsuit was no longer achievable. Because the state has already processed millions of ballots, the department acknowledged that the challenged votes had been “irreparably commingled” with those of lawful voters. “The relief the United States sought and needed is no longer available—rendering voluntary dismissal necessary,” the motion stated.
The lawsuit, filed in mid-October, was a centerpiece of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to challenge state-run election procedures. Administration officials had argued that the list of 20,000 registered voters included noncitizens who should be barred from participating. However, California officials consistently maintained that the list was outdated and included many legitimate voters.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter had previously issued a blistering order denying the government’s initial request to sequester the ballots. Carter, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, warned that separating the ballots so close to the election would “wreak havoc” on the process and risk disenfranchising legal voters. He had appointed a special master to investigate the state’s mechanisms for verifying voter eligibility, a process that is now rendered moot by the dismissal.
Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, had originally framed the lawsuit as a necessary measure to “safeguard the integrity of the election.” At the time of filing, he expressed frustration that the legal process might be too slow to prevent the inclusion of allegedly illegal ballots. “We want to stop the illegal voting. We don’t want to chase it later,” Essayli said last month.
The dismissal follows weeks of tension between federal and state officials. While the civil lawsuit has come to an end, the Justice Department’s broader interest in California’s voter rolls persists. In recent weeks, California authorities have arrested more than 30 noncitizens accused of illegally registering to vote, and federal subpoenas have been issued to election clerks across the state to appear before grand juries this month.
As of Friday, California election officials reported that roughly 9 million ballots had been processed, with nearly 5 million still awaiting tabulation. With the federal case dropped, the state will continue its count without further judicial interference.
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