Federal appeals court blocks Trump administration's emergency ballot order in California

A US appeals court has refused to block around 20,000 mail-in ballots in California. The Trump administration asked the court to set the ballots aside, claiming they were sent to non-citizens. The court voted 2-1 against the request on Monday. Judges said they could not act because a lower court had not yet reviewed the case. They also said the administration had partly created its own emergency. The Justice Department argued that time was critical because ballots were arriving daily. California officials denied that the ballots were sent to non-citizens. A lower court was due to hear the case on Tuesday. The administration can still appeal to a larger panel of judges or to the Supreme Court.