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- 'If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger,' says Judge David Carter
By Darren Lyn
HOUSTON, United States (AA) - A federal judge on Wednesday denied the Donald Trump administration's request to block 20,000 California ballots cast by voters whose US citizenship is being questioned.
"Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch," US District Judge David Carter wrote in his ruling. "The federal government seeks to segregate and exclude over 20,000 ballots. This request violates longstanding constitutional principles mandating that states have control over their elections."
Carter ruled that the Trump administration's allegations were "not credible" and that intervening just days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections would both violate federal voting laws and wreak havoc during the elections.
"If Plaintiff’s last-minute request for relief were granted, either party could create chaos for their own political purposes to disrupt the election process," Carter said. "Over 20,000 registered Californians would potentially lose the right that generations of Americans have fought to preserve."
"The Government’s Application for Temporary Restraining Order is DENIED."
Carter added that allowing the Trump administration's unprecedented request would likely lead to the disenfranchisement of legitimate voters and foster future political meddling in elections.
"Constitutional rights and our democracy are at stake. The public interest favors their protection," said Carter. "Individuals who have met the requirements of California’s voter registration laws must not be deprived of a core right merely because of unfounded allegations stemming from a procedure rife with uncertainty and errors."
Carter explained in his ruling that there are already federal laws in place to prosecute individuals who vote illegally, adding that California had already established rules "to cancel the voter registrations of any individuals proven ineligible."
"The Executive Branch cannot replace the remedy Congress carefully enacted with its own unlawful and unconstitutional solution instead," said Carter. "Eroded trust in our democracy is irreparable. 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," he concluded. "This Court declines to be a party to such process."
Carter’s ruling was the second to deny the Trump administration a temporary restraining order against the state of California and Los Angeles County this week, after a three-judge panel of the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday denied the government’s emergency request in a separate order, according to media reports.
