DOJ’s California noncitizen voting case was just yanked from a Trump-appointed judge and handed to a Clinton-appointed critic of the DOJ and Trump. The Justice Department sued California to stop the state from counting roughly 20,000 mail ballots from people federal authorities identified as likely noncitizens before the November 3, 2026 midterms. The suit rests on the federal ban on noncitizen voting in federal elections (18 U.S.C. § 611) and the Supremacy Clause. It asks the court to require citizenship verification before those ballots are tabulated. The case was first assigned to U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb, a Trump appointee. California quickly filed a notice of related case, pointing to an earlier DOJ lawsuit (United States v. Weber) that sought the state’s unredacted voter rolls. That case had been dismissed in January 2026 by Judge David O. Carter, a Bill Clinton appointee. In that earlier order, Carter called the DOJ’s demands a “fishing expedition,” accused the department of exceeding its authority, and warned of a “chilling effect” on voter registration. He framed the effort as part of the Trump administration “chipping away at democracy.” The current case is different in key ways: it is an as-applied preemption claim focused on specific ballots already sent for this election, not a broad records-production demand under the Civil Rights Act or NVRA. Local rules still allowed the transfer once Carter consented. This is the pattern. Activist judges repeatedly interpose themselves between federal law and state election practices when the issue is noncitizen voting or voter-roll integrity. Courts have tossed multiple DOJ efforts to obtain basic voter data for verification. Here, a judge who has already telegraphed his view of the DOJ’s motives is now positioned to rule on whether California can count ballots from people the federal government flagged as likely ineligible. The DOJ has a short window to object to the related-case designation or seek recusal. A temporary restraining order hearing is set for October 27. Citizens who believe only citizens should vote in federal elections should watch closely, and demand that judges apply the law instead of their prior political conclusions. Noncitizen voting is illegal. States that mail ballots to people federal agencies have identified as likely noncitizens should not get to decide unilaterally that verification can wait until after the election. Stop Communism Vote RED in the Midterms Vote America First 🇺🇸

New ad from Californians for Voter ID (Yes on Prop 39) uses a parody with Sydney Sweeney to highlight that California is one of the few states that does not require photo ID to vote. In the spot, a man claims to be Sydney Sweeney at the polls. The poll worker asks for ID, but is told she is not allowed to request it. He receives a ballot anyway, while already wearing multiple “I Voted” stickers. When the real Sydney Sweeney arrives, she is arrested for attempting to vote twice. The ad is a parody, but the underlying issue is real. Prop 39 would require government-issued ID for in-person voting and the last four digits of an ID number on mail ballots. Vote Yes on Prop 39. Vote RED in the Midterms Vote America First🇺🇸

North Carolina Democratic Governor Josh Stein is spreading a clear falsehood about absentee ballot rejections, and Republicans need to call it out immediately. Stein posted that the State Board of Elections’ “last-minute changes to voting by mail are leading to thousands more absentee ballots being rejected this election, at a rejection rate twice as high as in 2022.” He called it “infuriating” and told voters to cast ballots in person if possible so their votes wouldn’t be “taken away.” The actual numbers from the North Carolina State Board of Elections show nothing of the sort. Preliminary data shows a spoiled ballot rate of 3.1% so far in 2026, compared with 2.6% at the same stage in 2022. That is a modest increase of half a percentage point, not a doubling. The final 2022 rejection rate finished around 2.2%. Stein’s claim appears to rest on an analysis from Common Cause North Carolina that was amplified by Democracy Docket, the left-leaning legal outfit founded by Marc Elias. Democracy Docket is actively suing to block the new rules. The Common Cause review covered only 27 of 100 counties and mixed various rejection reasons; some of those rejections were unrelated to the recent changes. The rules in question were adopted by the Republican-majority State Board of Elections and upheld this week by a federal judge. They mainly require voters to properly seal the inner envelope containing the ballot (in addition to the outer mailing envelope) and tighten rules on who can assist with or return ballots. The judge noted that the requirements are clearly stated on the materials and are not unduly burdensome. The stated purpose is basic chain-of-custody protection for mail ballots. This is the pattern: implement or enforce routine integrity measures, then generate inflated rejection numbers from partial or advocacy-sourced data, frame them as deliberate suppression, and prime the public for “rigged election” claims if close races do not break the preferred way. Early in-person voting has been strong, and the U.S. Senate race between Roy Cooper and Michael Whatley is competitive, exactly the setting where such messaging is most useful. Republicans in North Carolina and nationally should treat this as a preview, not an isolated incident. Document the official numbers, push back in real time on the “twice as high” claim, and defend straightforward envelope and handling rules as ordinary election security rather than conspiracy. Voters who follow the clear instructions will have their ballots counted; those who do not can still cure issues or vote in person. That is not suppression. It is process. Vote RED in the Midterms Vote America First 🇺🇸