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Happy election eve!
The DOJ’s bitter feud with California over voter fraud will go past Election Day
If you’re having a hard time keeping up with the head-spinning developments in the bitter feud between the federal Department of Justice and California over allegations that thousands of noncitizens are voting illegally, you’re not alone.
The drumbeat of news is relentless.
Last week alone: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals weighed in twice, rejecting the DOJ’s request to force California to sequester 20,000 ballots.
The federal court judge weighing the case did the same. In D.C., a different federal judge ordered the DOJ to give the list of 20,000 “likely” noncitizen voters to an immigrant rights group to scrutinize.
A federal judge has rejected the Trump administration’s effort to set aside tens of thousands of potential ballots in California. (Benjamin Fanjoy/For the S.F. Chronicle)
Separately, the DOJ has been sending subpoenas to local election officials, as it expands criminal probes of suspected noncitizen voters.
A day after that revelation hit, unions representing those workers sued the DOJ over the threats.
If that’s not enough, there’s yet another separate federal case unfolding in Oakland, where the California Nurses Association sued to block the Department of Homeland Security from going door to door to intimidate voters.
Whew.
The bottom line is that these cases will keep playing out long after Election Day is over.
The Santa Ana-based federal judge presiding over the DOJ’s lawsuit against California has appointed a special master to investigate the government’s process for developing its lists of potential noncitizen voters.
Another hearing is scheduled for mid-November. Some of the L.A. officials who got subpoenaed are set to be hauled into court one day after the election – when their presence is probably badly needed back in the office, as vote-counting is in full swing.
So far, the DOJ has been on a losing streak, and has been rejected in virtually all of its attempts to usurp California’s election authority. But the war won’t be decided until long past Nov. 3.
Could the state’s new antitrust law get its first real test?
DoorDash’s announcement last week that it is acquiring Instacart for $17 billion launched a flurry of questions: How would it affect the markets? How might competitors respond? What could this mean for consumers?
But in California, some are asking whether this could be the first test to the state’s brand-new antitrust law.
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