A US federal appeals court allowed the Donald Trump administration on Tuesday to resume demanding that election officials withhold ballots suspected of belonging to individuals who do not hold US citizenship, with the possibility of warning them of criminal prosecution if illegal votes are counted knowingly.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision by a vote of 6 judges to 5, coinciding with the midterm congressional elections, amid concerns about the impact of federal administration pressure on the work of election officials. The ruling represents the third decision issued by the court in approximately 12 hours, in a legal dispute regarding the limits of the Trump administration's intervention in voting and vote-counting procedures.
Details of the Legal Dispute
The dispute began after a lower court imposed restrictions on the administration's actions, before a panel of 3 judges stayed the enforcement of those restrictions, then that decision was overturned and the case was referred to an enlarged panel of 11 judges, which reinstated the stay on Tuesday. Under the latest ruling, the administration can continue to demand that election officials withhold ballots whose owners' eligibility is in doubt.
The ruling also suspended the requirement for the administration to disclose some arrest warrants and subpoenas issued by grand juries in cases involving voters suspected of ineligibility. In justifying the decision, Judges Eric Miller and Mark Bennett viewed that courts generally cannot prevent the Department of Justice from informing election officials of its interpretation of criminal law, even if that interpretation is incorrect.
Reactions and Legal Position
In contrast, 5 judges dissented, warning of its repercussions on voters and those managing elections. Chief Judge Mary Morguia stated that the threat of criminal prosecution places election officials in front of conflicting legal obligations, making it difficult to perform their duties during voting. The dispute comes amid elections featuring competition between Republicans and Democrats for control of both houses of Congress.
The ruling does not establish that non-citizens voted or result in a judicial decision to exclude specific votes, but rather temporarily lifts restrictions on the administration's requests and warnings, pending the completion of the case review.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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