Supreme Court denies DOJ request to block California from counting disputed ballots

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday evening denied a request from the Department of Justice to temporarily block California from counting mail-in ballots for approximately 20,000 voters whom the department suggested may not be U.S. citizens.

Legal Challenges and Court Rulings

The request for an injunction was rejected in an unsigned court order. The application was presented to Associate Justice Elena Kagan, who referred it to the rest of the high court before it was denied. This decision follows a series of legal setbacks for the Department of Justice regarding the matter:

• Federal District Court: Judge David Carter denied the DOJ's request for a temporary restraining order to set aside ballots from individuals on a list prepared by the Department of Homeland Security. Carter stated, “Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch.”
• 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals: A three-judge panel rejected the DOJ's appeal of the district court's ruling in a 2-1 decision. The majority opinion stated, "There is a material risk that granting the United States its requested relief would result in disenfranchisement."

The Dispute Over Voter Rolls

The Department of Justice filed the original lawsuit against California on Oct. 15 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Solicitor General D. John Sauer stated in the application, “In this case, this Office has been informed that the United States has identified more than 20,000 individuals who appear to be registered to vote in California based on publicly available information at the time that information was received, but who, in the United States’ view, are likely not U.S. citizens.”

Sauer argued that "the United States suffers a judicially cognizable ‘injury to its sovereignty’ from the ‘violation of its laws,’” and noted that once ballots are commingled, they cannot be retrieved.

California officials and legal experts have raised concerns regarding the accuracy of the DOJ's list. Data scientists at the University of California Los Angeles' Voting Rights Project analyzed the list and found that 42% of the names did not appear on California's current voter roll. The analysis also found naturalized citizens on the list.

Election Context

The Supreme Court's decision comes one day before the midterm elections. California election officials have stated that finding and setting aside the challenged ballots at this stage would be logistically impossible.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the appeal "reeks of desperation and is another attempt to undermine our elections and trample on the rule of law."

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Sources

• cnbc.com: Supreme Court rejects DOJ bid to block CA from counting disputed ballots
• npr.org: Supreme Court rejects DOJ push to separate California ballots : NPR
• cbsnews.com: Supreme Court rejects Trump's effort to force California to separate mail ballots from alleged noncitizens - CBS News
• wamc.org: The Supreme Court rejects a DOJ push to separate California ballots | WAMC
• abc7news.com: Supreme Court rejects Trump administration push to set aside thousands of California ballots | abc7news.com
• lmtonline.com: Supreme Court rejects Trump administration push to set aside thousands of California ballots

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.