US court considers dispute over 20,000 ballots before congressional elections California federal judge David Carter is considering bringing in an independent expert to review the Donald Trump administration's claims that there are about 20,000 non-American citizens on the state's voter rolls. The US Department of Justice demands that the ballots of those voters be ignored until their citizenship is verified. California officials dispute the accuracy of the federal list and warn that separating such ballots while voting is already underway could lead to errors and disqualify citizens from voting. On October 26, the appeals court did not respond to the administration's urgent request, indicating that the lower court did not have time to fully hear the case. At the hearing on October 27, Judge Carter said that the decision requires an independent review of the data presented. He is considering the possibility of entrusting this work to a special expert. There is still no final decision on the merits of the dispute. The US congressional midterm elections are scheduled for November 3rd. California's voting results are due to be certified in December.