9th Circuit panel questions basis for feds' request to block 20,000 California ballots

In a rare Sunday hearing, a federal appeals court judge appointed by President Trump questioned how the Trump administration's request to intervene in California's ongoing midterm election in order to force state officials to set aside 20,000 ballots from voters whose citizenship it questions squares with the U.S. Constitution. Judge Mark J. Bennett said that while the executive branch is "unhappy" with what California law requires for ensuring voters are citizens, the state has the right to determine the manner of its elections under the Elections Clause of the Constitution and Congress has not challenged that process, despite having the ability to do so. "It seems to me that you want us to issue an injunction that is entirely inconsistent with the law the California Legislature has adopted pursuant to the Elections Clause," Bennett said. "How can we do that?"