US Justice Department drops bid to force California to set aside disputed ballots

The U.S. Department of Justice moved to dismiss its own lawsuit seeking to stop California from counting about 20,000 ballots

The lawsuit alleged the ballots went to noncitizens until immigration status could be verified

The motion to dismiss comes days after Republicans' significant losses in the midterm elections

The motion comes about a week before a scheduled hearing where a special master was to evaluate the list's accuracy

Mid-October: The DOJ filed the lawsuit after hundreds of thousands of ballots were already processed · The week before the election: Essayli said outside court that they wanted to stop illegal voting, not chase it later · Late October: Judge Carter appointed a special master shortly after allowing California to proceed with elections as planned · The week before the election: Elections clerks around California were sent subpoenas to testify before grand juries · Early Friday: California had processed roughly 9 million ballots with nearly 5 million left to count · Friday: The DOJ moved to dismiss its own lawsuit

20,000 disputed ballots · 9 million ballots processed · 5 million ballots left to count · 23 million registered voters · 30 noncitizens arrested

It's not clear who is being criminally charged in the grand jury cases