Judge says setting aside California ballots would "wreak havoc" on election

U.S. District Judge David Carter on Wednesday denied a Trump administration request to stop California from processing mail ballots from up to 20,000 people the government says are likely noncitizens. PBS NewsHour reports he warned the step would "wreak havoc" on the midterm elections. CNBC also quotes the "wreak havoc" language.

The Justice Department had asked for an emergency order, ABC News reports. The Hill reports Carter ruled California can keep accepting the questioned ballots like any other. It quotes him saying the request "violates longstanding constitutional principles" on state control, but its excerpt ends there. The New York Times reports he found no immediate action was necessary.

NPR reports the case is not over and will likely be appealed. The Hill calls the ruling another defeat for the department, but its excerpt does not say what the earlier defeat was. Fox News describes the ruling as the judge blocking the department's bid.

The Guardian reports the ruling came about two weeks after the department gave election officials in Los Angeles and Sacramento a USB drive. The department said it held the names of 20,000 noncitizens on California's voter rolls. The Guardian says the state has more than 23 million registered voters and that noncitizen voting is extremely rare. It also calls the request legally thin and says it appeared meant to cast doubt on the midterm results. That is the Guardian's characterization.

Al Jazeera reports the government has issued more than 100 subpoenas across 13 states in its search for alleged noncitizen voters. No other outlet in this set reports that figure.