The Supreme Court denied a last-minute request from the Trump administration to require California to set aside approximately 20,000 mail-in ballots from alleged non-citizens.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a one-line order on Monday denying a request from the Trump administration for an injunction to stop California from counting mail-in ballots from approximately 20,000 voters whom the government alleges may be non-citizens.
The Supreme Court's decision follows several unsuccessful attempts by the Justice Department to intervene in California's midterm election vote count. Two lower courts had previously rejected the administration's request:
In a separate matter, Chief Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to stop making certain demands, stating, "The Executive Branch has likely violated the Constitution's Elections Clause, which commits authority over election rules to the states and Congress alone."
The Justice Department's request was based on a list of voters the administration "believe" are "likely" non-citizens. Solicitor General D. John Sauer stated in the application that "the United States is likely to succeed on the merits of its appeal" and argued that the administration suffers an "injury to its sovereignty" from the violation of laws prohibiting non-citizen voting.
California election officials have disputed the accuracy of the government's claims. Officials stated the list provided by the federal government is "riddled with inaccuracies" and expressed concern that eligible voters could be disenfranchised. California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the Supreme Court's denial "completely appropriate, very expected," adding, "This was a Hail Mary. It was baseless."
The ruling comes on the eve of the midterm elections, which will determine control of the U.S. Congress. In California, a state with approximately 23 million registered voters, more than six million mail-in ballots had already been received as of Sunday night, according to the California secretary of state's office.
California officials noted that because voting has been underway since early October and many ballots have already been processed, segregating specific ballots would be logistically unfeasible. Once ballots are processed and signatures are checked, identifying specific voters becomes difficult as details are discarded before the vote is counted.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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