Judge rejects Trump effort to block California ‘noncitizen’ ballots

Federal Judge David Carter rejected the US Justice Department’s request to stop California from counting more than 20,000 mail ballots linked to people alleged to be noncitizens, six days before the midterm elections. He said the department’s last-minute request violated longstanding constitutional principles giving states control over their elections. The Justice Department appealed to the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling comes as Donald Trump intensifies efforts to find alleged noncitizen voters, with subpoenas issued in at least 13 states.