Split 9th Circuit Blocks Noncitizen Ballot Set-Aside

A divided 9th Circuit panel ruled 2-1 against the Justice Department's bid to set aside about 20,000 California ballots it says may belong to noncitizens. Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez said the government hadn't shown the extraordinary relief it wanted was required. The court says there's no feasible way to sort out specific ballots without potentially catastrophic effects on the system, which is a polite way of saying you can't pull one calf out of a mud pen without taking the whole fence down. Judge David Carter had already called the list not credible. The Justice Department hasn't said whether it'll carry this to the Supreme Court. Around my place, that's slow as molasses in January.