The Justice Department Friday lost its second bid to have an appeals court stop California election officials from processing more than 20,000 ballots from people the federal government suspects may be non-citizens but are registered to vote in next week’s election.

The renewed effort was filed with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals immediately after a Los Angeles federal judge late Wednesday denied the DOJ’s attempt to obtain a temporary restraining order separating the allegedly ineligible vote-by-mail ballots.

The 2-1 vote Friday to reject the appeal is the latest setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to assert control over state-run elections.