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Justice Department moves to drop suit over California mail ballots

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 7 outlets, mostly left-leaning (86%).

7 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

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The Justice Department on Friday asked to dismiss its lawsuit against California, which sought to stop the state from counting roughly 20,000 ballots the federal government alleged were cast by noncitizens, according to The Hill, MS NOW and CBS News. The Hill and MS NOW report that the Supreme Court and lower courts had earlier rejected the department’s emergency requests. The notice of voluntary dismissal was filed in federal court in Los Angeles, Raw Story reports, and California continues to count ballots in major races. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the administration had given up its latest effort to interfere with the state’s elections. MeidasTouch reports that a separate legal challenge had raised questions about the federal list of nearly 21,000 suspected noncitizen voters.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. Editors read every story. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. The Justice Department asked to dismiss its lawsuit against California over roughly 20,000 mail ballots it alleged were cast by noncitizens.

    Reported byFar Left3Left1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    MeidasTouch, MS NOW, Raw Story
    Left
    CBS News
    Center
    The Hill

  2. The Supreme Court and lower courts rejected the department’s emergency requests before the dismissal.

    Reported byFar Left1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    MS NOW
    Center
    The Hill

  3. The notice of voluntary dismissal was filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

    One outletRaw Story· Far Left

  4. California continues to count ballots in major races.

    One outletRaw Story· Far Left

  5. A separate legal challenge raised questions about the federal list of nearly 21,000 suspected noncitizen voters.

    One outletMeidasTouch· Far Left

How each side tells it

Compare views

Every side reports that the Justice Department moved to drop its lawsuit seeking to set aside about 20,000 California ballots. Left-rated outlets frame the move as a defeat after Supreme Court rulings, while the center outlet reports it in plain terms.

  • the left

    6 outlets

    Far Left headlines cast the dismissal as a defeat for the administration, using ‘white flag’ and ‘smackdown’, while the Left-rated CBS News headline is plain.

    DOJ voluntarily drops California ballot lawsuit
    MS NOWFar LeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    The Hill’s headline reports the dismissal in neutral terms, stating the request and the ballot count without loaded wording.

    DOJ dismisses lawsuit over California's 20,000 disputed ballots
    The HillCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    No coverage yet

    No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left6

    waves white flagmassive admission of defeatballot warsmackdown

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right

    Has not covered this story.

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded verb

    waves white flagMore neutral: drops lawsuit

    Describes the department’s dismissal as a surrender, which is a judgement the filing itself does not state.

    Trump DOJ waves white flag in blue state ballot war after Supreme Court smackdown

    Used byRaw Story (Far Left)MeidasTouch (Far Left)

  • Sensational language

    massive admission of defeatMore neutral: voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit

    Characterizes the filing as a defeat and an admission, which is a judgement the notice does not state.

    It's a massive admission of defeat that comes even as California continues to count ballots in major races.

    Used byRaw Story (Far Left)

  • Sensational language

    ballot warMore neutral: ballot dispute

    Presents a legal dispute over ballots as a conflict, adding drama to a routine court filing.

    Trump DOJ waves white flag in blue state ballot war after Supreme Court smackdown

    Used byRaw Story (Far Left)

  • Sensational language

    smackdownMore neutral: ruling

    Uses a dramatic term for court rulings that the headline could describe plainly.

    Trump DOJ waves white flag in blue state ballot war after Supreme Court smackdown

    Used byRaw Story (Far Left)

Show 2 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Vague attribution

    experts raised serious questionsMore neutral: a legal challenge questioned the federal list

    Attributes a judgement to unnamed experts without saying who they are or what they found.

    …abandoned its effort to segregate thousands of ballots after experts raised serious questions about its list of alleged noncitizen voters.

    Used byMeidasTouch (Far Left)

  • Sensational language

    Election SmackdownMore neutral: after Supreme Court ruling

    Uses a dramatic term for court rulings that the headline could describe plainly.

    Trump DOJ Waves White Flag After Supreme Court Election Smackdown

    Used byMeidasTouch (Far Left)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

6 outlets

Leads with

  • Supreme Court rulings against the administration
  • The administration’s retreat
  • Questions about the federal noncitizen list
See the 6 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • The New York TimesLeft

    Justice Dept. Dismisses Suit Against California Over 20,000 Ballots

    The effort by the Trump administration to set aside thousands of mail-in ballots had been rejected by the Supreme Court before Election Day.

    Read at The New York Times (opens in a new tab)

    Also published by The Boston Globe. It counts once.

  • MeidasTouchFar Left

    Trump DOJ Loaded verb“Waves White Flag”Describes the department’s dismissal as a surrender, which is a judgement the filing itself does not state.More neutral: Justice Department drops suitDisagree with this highlight? After Supreme Court Sensational language“Election Smackdown”Uses a dramatic term for court rulings that the headline could describe plainly.More neutral: after Supreme Court rulingDisagree with this highlight?

    The administration abandoned its effort to segregate thousands of ballots after Vague attribution“experts raised serious questions”Attributes a judgement to unnamed experts without saying who they are or what they found.More neutral: a legal challenge questioned the federal listDisagree with this highlight? about its list of alleged noncitizen voters.

    Read at MeidasTouch (opens in a new tab)
  • MS NOWFar Left

    DOJ voluntarily drops California ballot lawsuit

    Days after the midterm election, federal prosecutors abandoned their effort to separate roughly 20,000 disputed ballots after courts rejected the Trump administration's emergency requests.

    Read at MS NOW (opens in a new tab)
  • CBS NewsLeft

    DOJ dropping suit asking California to set aside alleged noncitizen ballots

    The Justice Department moved to dismiss its own lawsuit that sought to stop California from counting roughly 20,000 ballots it alleged went to noncitizens.

    Read at CBS News (opens in a new tab)
  • Raw StoryFar Left

    Trump DOJ Loaded verb“waves white flag”Describes the department’s dismissal as a surrender, which is a judgement the filing itself does not state.More neutral: drops lawsuitDisagree with this highlight? in blue state Sensational language“ballot war”Presents a legal dispute over ballots as a conflict, adding drama to a routine court filing.More neutral: ballot disputeDisagree with this highlight? after Supreme Court Sensational language“smackdown”Uses a dramatic term for court rulings that the headline could describe plainly.More neutral: rulingDisagree with this highlight?

    The Justice Department on Friday dropped its lawsuit seeking to force California to set aside mail ballots from about 20,000 people it called likely noncitizens, filing a notice of voluntary dismissal in federal court in Los Angeles. …

    Read at Raw Story (opens in a new tab)
  • The Boston GlobeFar LeftSame report as at The New York Times

    Justice Dept. dismisses suit against California over 20,000 ballots

    The Boston Globe published a report that is shown in full at The New York Times.

    Read at The Boston Globe (opens in a new tab)

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • Dismissal request filed Friday
  • Roughly 20,000 disputed ballots
  • Supreme Court emergency order
See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • The HillCenter

    DOJ dismisses lawsuit over California's 20,000 disputed ballots

    The Justice Department (DOJ) requested Friday to dismiss its lawsuit against California, which sought to make the state's election officials set aside roughly 20,000 ballots for voters the federal government alleged were not U.S. citizens. …

    Read at The Hill (opens in a new tab)

From the right

0 outlets

No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

The stories you read build My Mix, a private picture of which sides cover the stories you choose, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    Raw Story, Nov 6, 8:29 PM EST

  • Center

    1 hr later

    Its first report, Nov 6, 9:32 PM EST

  • Right

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. Raw StoryFar LeftNov 6, 8:29 PM EST
  2. CBS NewsLeftNov 6, 8:39 PM EST
  3. MS NOWFar LeftNov 6, 8:43 PM EST
  4. MeidasTouchFar LeftNov 6, 8:51 PM EST
  5. The HillCenterNov 6, 9:32 PM EST
  6. The New York TimesLeftNov 6, 10:23 PM EST
  7. The Boston GlobeFar LeftNov 7, 1:06 AM EST

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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