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Court blocks bid by Trump DoJ to stop California from counting mail-in ballots

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Cite

Guardian staff. (2026, October 26). Court blocks bid by Trump DoJ to stop California from counting mail-in ballots. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/26/court-california-ballots

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-10-26 · by Guardian staff

Quick Summary

A US appeals court in San Francisco denied a request from the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump to halt California's counting of mail ballots for over 20,000 registered voters who are suspected by federal officials of being noncitizens. This ruling comes days before the midterms where Republicans aim to maintain control of Congress, marking another obstacle for Trump’s efforts to increase federal oversight in elections.
Written by AI on 2026-10-27, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 26, 2026, federal appellate judges questioned the Justice Department's demand for California to set aside 20,000 mail ballots from people suspected of not being U.S. citizens. The panel expressed doubt about the timing and constitutionality of this request during a rare weekend hearing. Despite initial setbacks, on November 2, Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to stop demanding California officials set aside these ballots, delivering another setback to the DOJ's election oversight efforts. However, in an unusual legal twist, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals briefly lifted and then restored a block on the investigation into noncitizen voting in California hours before polls opened on November 3, setting up further legal battles.

Written for “Appeals Court Rejects DOJ Bid” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 42 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Appeals Court Rejects DOJ Bid
Politics · 43 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 25% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
US Justice Dept loses initial bid to block votes from alleged noncitizens in California Same event
The Straits Times
Hedges 2 of 18 claims Outlet record 66/100
US court rules against Trump administration in California voting case Same event
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 7 of 34 claims Outlet record 60/100
Trump administration loses push to block California votes from alleged non-citizens Same event
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
Appeals court rejects DOJ bid to set aside disputed California ballots Same event
CBS News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 5 of 32 claims Outlet record 65/100
Appeals court rejects DOJ effort to set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots, teeing up Supreme Court gambit Same event
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Centre further right than this Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 69/100
Judge rejects DOJ request to block California from immediately counting ballots linked to alleged noncitizens Same event
Fox News
Hedges 4 of 22 claims Outlet record 68/100
Trump-appointed judge questions president’s bid to block 20,000 California ballots Same event
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 5 of 23 claims Outlet record 59/100
Judge rejects Trump admin request for order to segregate 20,000 Calif. ballots Same event
ABC News (US)
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 67/100
Chabria: California votes. Trump's Justice Department panics Same event
Los Angeles Times
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 10 of 55 claims Outlet record 95/100
Trump’s bid to toss 20,000 California ballots could ‘jeopardize’ midterm elections, appeals court warns Same event
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 5 of 24 claims Outlet record 59/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
4
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
25%
1 of 4 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
43
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-27 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 1995 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Guardian staff
77 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by Guardian staff
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2026-11-02 · The Guardian
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 77 articles by Guardian staff →

Topics

California Congress DoJ Republicans San Francisco

Subjects

California GPE · 3× Trump PERSON · 3× Congress ORG · 1× DoJ ORG · 1× Donald Trump’s PERSON · 1× Republicans NORP · 1× San Francisco GPE · 1×

Narrative

A US appeals court on Monday ruled against Donald Trump’s justice department in a major voting dispute ahead of the midterm elections, denying a request to block California from counting mail ballots from people on a list of more than 20,000 registered voters the federal government alleges are likely noncitizens.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-27
2026-10-27 · The Guardian
Court blocks bid by Trump DoJ to stop California from counting mail-in ballots · mixed framing

Claims (4 extracted, 1 hedged)

A US appeals court on Monday ruled against Donald Trump’s justice department in a major voting dispute ahead of the midterm elections, denying a request to block California from counting mail ballots from people on a list of more than 20,000 registered voters the federal government alleges are likely noncitizens. asserted
government → rule → voters
The decision by the San Francisco-based ninth US circuit court of appeals marked the latest setback in Trump’s efforts to assert a greater federal role in overseeing elections in the run-up to the 3 November midterms in which his fellow Republicans are fighting to retain control of Congress. asserted
Republicans → base → Congress
On Friday, at least 18 counties across California received letters demanding local election officials set aside and verify ballots that Trump’s administration claims belong to noncitizen voters. uncertain
administration → receive → voters
The DoJ’s lawsuit, filed earlier this month, marked the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s battle with California. asserted
lawsuit → file → California
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