Trump administration clashes with states ahead of midterms

WASHINGTON

The Trump administration and state officials are clashing over voting procedures ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections, with disputes over alleged noncitizen voters and an Alaska Senate candidacy reaching the courts.

A federal appeals court on Oct. 30 rejected the Justice Department’s request to set aside California mail ballots from about 20,000 people it alleges may not be U.S. citizens. The 2-1 ruling followed a district judge’s refusal to grant the request.

Separately, a federal judge barred the department through Nov. 16 from threatening election workers to stop processing ballots solely because it alleges a voter is ineligible.

In Washington state, prosecutors sought to separate ballots from more than 400 people they alleged had registered without U.S. citizenship.

Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said the list included U.S. citizens and demanded individual evidence before officials could withhold a registered voter’s ballot from counting.

The Justice Department says preventing noncitizen voting is a federal responsibility and rejects accusations that its actions are politically motivated.

In Alaska, federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that Democratic challenger Mary Peltola’s campaign helped recruit retired teacher Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. to divert votes from Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Peltola denied knowing about the effort, while Sullivan Jr. denied running at Democrats’ behest. The department has also asked a court to separate ballots ranking Sullivan Jr.

State officials elsewhere are preparing for possible federal intervention. Maryland election administrator Jared DeMarinis said contingency planning with 70 officials included arranging legal representation and bail if he were detained on Election Day.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said her lawyers had prepared briefs “for virtually every set of circumstances we could think of, except the zombie apocalypse.”

Both major parties are also preparing legal teams for possible disputes after voting ends.

Nearly 47.9 million Americans had voted early by midday on Oct. 30, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, surpassing the 45.9 million early votes recorded in the 2022 midterms. The Nov. 3 elections will determine control of both chambers of Congress.