Following a recent decision by a federal appeals court to deny the Trump administration’s request that the court order California to set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots that the administration claimed are from noncitizens, Stephen Richer, a legal fellow with Cato’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, released a statement:

Even before getting to the merits of the case, the Justice Department will have a very hard time justifying the timing of its lawsuit. On July 16, Secretary Mullin alleged that California had 190,832 noncitizens on its voter rolls. The Secretary did not state this was a possibility. He stated it as if it were a fact — meaning he presumably had proof. But it was not until October 13 — after California mailed out ballots to all registered voters — that the Justice Department sent the names of alleged noncitizens to California. This timing challenge is entirely of the federal government’s own doing. And it understandably leads skeptics to believe that this isn’t about improving California vote rolls, but is an attempt to cause confusion and discredit the impending election.

To speak with Richer further, contact Cato PR at pr@​cato.​org.