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

A voter casts her ballot in Boyle Heights on Saturday, the first day of early voting in Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 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…