What we know
What we know: US Justice Department drops bid to force California to set aside disputed ballots
Compiled Nov 6
What we know
- 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
- California officials said the list is out of date and includes legitimate voters
- U.S. District Judge David O. Carter had allowed California to proceed with elections as planned and appointed a special master in late October
- California prosecutors have arrested over 30 noncitizens accused of illegally registering to vote
- Elections clerks around California were sent subpoenas to testify before grand juries slated to convene in November
What we don’t know yet
- It's not clear who is being criminally charged in the grand jury cases
- Whether California election officials actually had a mechanism for separating the ballots was still to be considered by the special master
Open questions
- Who, if anyone, will be criminally charged from the grand jury investigations?
- What will happen to the noncitizens already arrested for illegal registration?
- Will the DOJ pursue other legal avenues to challenge state election processes in the future?
- Does California have any mechanism to separate ballots in future cases like this?
Drawn from the Associated Press report. “What we don’t know” lists only what the reporting itself flags as unresolved.