OAKLAND, Calif. — The Trump Administration has dropped its federal lawsuit seeking to force California election officials to set aside and not count mail-in ballots from about 20,000 voters, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday.
Read the Attorney General's release: https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-trump-administration-throws-towel-drops-baseless-lawsuit
The Lawsuit, The List, The Dismissal
The lawsuit targeted mail-in ballots that may be cast by about 20,000 people on a federal list of individuals the government described as people it "believes" are "likely" noncitizens.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a voluntary dismissal of the case, according to the Attorney General's Office, choosing to end the lawsuit rather than appear at a court-ordered evidentiary hearing set for Friday, November 13, before Judge David Carter, where the reliability of the list would have been examined.
The dismissal filing is linked in the Attorney General's release.
Four Courts, Four Losses, One Week
The case was rejected by four courts in one week, the release states.
On Monday, October 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed the federal government's first emergency appeal after it attempted to bypass the district court.
On Wednesday, October 28, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied the Administration's request for a temporary restraining order.
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On Friday, October 30, the Ninth Circuit denied the Administration's emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal.
On Monday, November 2, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Administration's emergency application seeking to force California election officials to segregate and not count the ballots at issue.
The Reliability Questions, The Constitution, What's Next
Courts in other cases have raised concerns about the reliability of similar lists, and a Justice Department attorney in another case recently acknowledged that its lists have a "high error rate," according to the release.
"Next week, the Trump Administration would have faced tough questions in court about its list of suspected noncitizens. Rather than face that scrutiny, it chose to drop its case," Bonta said. "After four court defeats in just one week, including at the U.S. Supreme Court, the federal government has now thrown in the towel. California stood firm and prevailed, and the nationwide election results made clear that Americans overwhelmingly reject the Trump Administration's anti-democratic agenda. California will always stand up for our democracy and the rule of law."
The U.S. Constitution gives states and Congress — not the President or the Executive Branch — the authority to regulate the time, place, and manner of elections, the release states.
With the case dismissed, the November 13 hearing on the list's reliability will not go forward as a challenge to the ballots.
Sources
California Attorney General's Office, "Attorney General Bonta: Trump Administration Throws in the Towel, Drops Baseless Lawsuit Seeking to Disrupt California Elections," November 6, 2026: https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-trump-administration-throws-towel-drops-baseless-lawsuit
Transparency notes
Published: Nov 7, 2026. No major post-publication update has been logged.
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Sources
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