WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s emergency bid to stop California from counting mail ballots linked to roughly 20,000 people. Federal officials had identified these people as possible noncitizens.
Its one-sentence order offered no explanation, and no justice publicly dissented. The decision came a day before Tuesday’s midterm elections, leaving California’s ballot-processing procedures in place.
Justice Department lawyers asked election officials to separate ballots linked to the disputed list and exclude them from the count until officials verified the voters’ citizenship.
Federal officials argued that election workers could no longer identify or retrieve the challenged ballots after removing them from their identifying envelopes and mixing them with others.
California disputed the list’s reliability. State officials also warned that the proposed intervention could exclude eligible citizens’ votes and disrupt an election already underway.
Monday’s order denied emergency relief while the administration pursues its appeal. It did not determine anyone’s citizenship or eligibility.
Governor Gavin Newsom welcomed the decision and defended California’s election safeguards. He urged voters to cast their ballots, describing the federal challenge as an attack on the state’s electoral process.
Before filing its Supreme Court application, the administration had sought relief from the San Francisco-based Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals. That court rejected its emergency request on October 30.
US District Judge David Carter had refused the requested order on October 28. He questioned the federal government’s data and warned against disrupting an ongoing election based on unproven allegations.
Carter pointed to instances in other states where people flagged as possible noncitizens subsequently proved to be naturalised US citizens.
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The Justice Department filed its lawsuit on October 15. It argued that California was obstructing enforcement of federal law prohibiting noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
California maintained that its existing procedures allow it to remove ineligible voters. The administration’s allegations did not justify withholding the disputed ballots.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the department would continue pursuing legal avenues to enforce federal election law.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber confirmed that the underlying legal fight remained open despite the rejection of emergency relief.
(With additional input from Reuters.)
