The Supreme Court on Monday denied the Trump administration’s emergency request to require California officials to set aside about 20,000 mail ballots, the court said in a one-line order.
The application was “denied,” the order said, leaving intact rulings by lower courts that had refused the Justice Department’s bid to segregate the ballots the government says are likely cast by noncitizens. The Supreme Court acted on the administration’s request for injunctive relief and did not invite a response from California election officials before ruling.
The Justice Department had sent letters to the California secretary of state and county registrars asking that ballots from roughly 20,000 registered voters be sequestered while their citizenship was checked, according to reporting that reviewed court filings and the letters sent to election offices.
State and local election officials, including Los Angeles County, told courts the federal list of alleged noncitizens contained many inaccuracies and said segregating ballots while voting is ongoing would risk disenfranchising eligible voters.
Two lower courts — a district judge and a divided federal appeals panel — rejected the Justice Department’s request before it reached the Supreme Court; one district judge described the government’s identification process as “rife with uncertainty and errors,” according to court documents and news reporting.
Legal observers said the high court’s unsigned, one-line denial means the lower-court rulings stand for now and the ballots will not be sequestered ahead of the midterm count. The dispute has played out as mail ballots continue to be returned across California.
Experts and officials have argued the controversy touches on how election administration handles alleged noncitizen registrants and how federal and state authorities interact during an active count; reporting shows the Justice Department has also sent lists and letters to county officials around the state.
For related recent coverage on ballot handling and local election officials, see postal worker indicted and the California judicial context at Joshua Groban retention.
Sources
- BBC News — described the Supreme Court’s one-line denial, noted lower courts had rejected the request and that California officials said the government’s list was inaccurate.
- CBS News — reported the court denied the Justice Department’s emergency injunction request and that the DOJ had sent letters to county officials demanding ballots be set aside.
