周三，加利福尼亚州一家地区法院驳回了特朗普政府的一项要求，该要求试图迫使加州作废约2万名选民的选票，特朗普政府缺乏实质依据地声称这些人“很可能是非公民”。长期以来，人们一直担心联邦执法会妨碍选举。
The Trump administration’s bid to force California to toss the ballots of some 20,000 voters it unsubstantially claimed were “likely noncitizens” was struck down on Wednesday by a California district court amid long-standing apprehension over federal enforcement impeding elections.
法官戴维·卡特在一份26页的裁决书中写道：“在美国历史上，联邦政府从未在选举前夕试图胁迫州和地方政府放弃自己的宪法选举程序，屈从于行政部门的意志。在提起这起诉讼时，行政部门想让本法院相信它是唯一的最高主权者。但加州及其人民也是主权者。”特朗普政府的诉讼是“保护投票行动”的一部分，司法部将该行动描述为“加州四个联邦检察官办公室协调一致的努力，旨在打击和根除美国选举中的欺诈行为，保护选举公正性”。
“Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch,” Judge David Carter wrote in a 26-page ruling. “In bringing this lawsuit, the Executive would have this Court believe that it reigns as a sole sovereign. But California and its people are sovereign, too.”The Trump administration’s lawsuit came as part of “Operation Protect the Vote,” an initiative the Justice Department describes as “a coordinated effort among all four California-based United States Attorney’s Offices to combat and root out fraud in U.S. elections and protect electoral integrity.”
该州的联邦检察官对28人提出指控，并于上周从2万人名单中逮捕了至少11人，指控他们均非法登记或投票。
Federal prosecutors in the state charged 28 people and arrested at least 11 from its list of 20,000 last week, alleging they all registered or voted illegally.
卡特由克林顿任命，他周三表示，联邦政府的要求“表明联邦官员存在一种广泛的、持续不断的企图干预选举的模式”。政府监督组织“共同事业”的首席执行官弗吉尼亚·凯斯·所罗门表示：“这是特朗普政府利用有缺陷的垃圾数据剥夺合格选民权利、制造一场不存在的危机的最后一搏。”司法部在周二的听证会上告诉卡特，其2万人名单完全是通过将一份商业购买的、包含部分加州选民名册的数据集与一份政府名单进行比对而制定的，该政府名单列出了在联邦移民系统中被分配了编号的人。
Carter, a Clinton appointee, said Wednesday that the federal government’s demands “are indicative of a broad, ongoing pattern of attempted election interference by federal officials.”“This was a last-ditch attempt by the Trump administration to use faulty, junk data to deprive eligible voters of their rights and manufacture a non-existent crisis,” said Virginia Kase Solomón, CEO of Common Cause, a government watchdog. The Justice Department told Carter in a Tuesday hearing that it formed its 20,000-person list entirely by checking a commercially-bought dataset containing partial California voter rolls with a government list of people who had been assigned numbers in the federal immigration system.
在卡特发布命令后不到两小时，特朗普政府就向第九巡回法院提交了上诉，该法院此前曾驳回其主张。
Less than two hours after Carter issued his order, the Trump administration filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit, which had previously rejected its claim.
数百万加州人已在多场势均力敌的竞选中投票，包括该州第22国会选区的众议院选举，对阵双方是共和党现任议员戴维·瓦拉道和获参议员伯尼·桑德斯背书的民主党人兰迪·维列加斯。
Millions of Californians have already voted in several close races, including the House contest for the state’s 22nd congressional district, between Republican incumbent David Valadao and Sen. Bernie Sanders–endorsed Democrat Randy Villegas.