Courts Reject Justice Department Midterm Lawsuits in California and Alaska as Los Angeles Heads to Election Day
President Donald Trump's Justice Department has shown a willingness to intervene directly in Tuesday's midterm elections, Reuters reported Monday, but courts have rejected its lawsuits against both California and Alaska — including a California case that sought to set aside mail-in ballots from about 20,000 voters.
The Justice Department under President Donald Trump has intervened directly in Tuesday's midterm elections in ways that break with decades of practice meant to avoid the appearance that federal law enforcement powers are being used to benefit a political party or candidate, according to a Reuters report read in full by the Politics Desk this cycle. In California, the department sought to set aside mail-in ballots from about 20,000 voters it alleges are likely non-U.S. citizens ineligible to vote, and it has demanded records in a related criminal probe. California has said it has implemented measures to prevent voting by noncitizens and argued the department does not have the authority to block votes.
In Alaska, the department intensified a criminal investigation into whether a Senate candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan entered the race to confuse voters, and it sought to block certification if Sullivan narrowly loses. U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage dismissed that lawsuit on Sunday, finding Alaska could not conduct such a probe while preserving the secrecy of ballots, and the department has appealed the decision. Reuters reported that courts have now rejected the department's lawsuits against both states. This station previously reported the California ruling, in which a federal court denied the department's request to set aside Los Angeles County ballots.
Attorney General Todd Blanche says the department's efforts are lawful and aim to protect the integrity of the vote, according to Reuters, while critics say the interventions could accelerate any attempt by Trump to sow doubt about the midterms, which will determine control of Congress and the winners of dozens of governors' races. Reuters also reported the department plans to deploy about 1,000 election monitors nationwide on Election Day, roughly triple the number used in the last midterms. In Los Angeles County, all 646 vote centers are open Monday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the final day of early voting and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
