Supreme Court Rejects the Trump Administration's Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Ballots on Election Eve
In a one-sentence order handed down hours after the emergency request was filed, the justices refused to force California to segregate mail ballots from voters the Justice Department says may not be citizens — with no noted dissents.
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration's emergency bid to force California to set aside mail ballots cast by more than 20,000 registered voters the federal government alleges may not be U.S. citizens, CNN and Reuters reported. The court acted hours after the Justice Department filed its request, on the eve of the midterm elections, and issued only a one-sentence order with no explanation and no noted dissents.
The speed carried its own signal: the justices did not ask California for a response before ruling, as they usually do in high-profile emergency cases. Solicitor General D. John Sauer had told the court the United States had identified more than 20,000 people who, in the government's view, are likely not citizens, and the administration argued that once a mail ballot is processed it cannot be undone if a voter is later found ineligible.
Every court to hear the case has now ruled against the administration. U.S. District Judge David Carter rejected the request on Oct. 28, writing that never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state to abandon its own constitutional election procedures. A divided 9th Circuit panel then refused the administration on Friday, holding in a 2-1 decision that the Constitution's Elections Clause does not give the executive branch that power and that forcing California to use the federal list could bar valid votes.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom welcomed the ruling in a statement quoted by CNN: 'After repeatedly losing in the lower courts, the highest court in the land firmly slapped down the Trump DOJ's baseless attack on California's electoral process — not even entertaining it.' The underlying lawsuit continues — Judge Carter has set an expedited hearing for Nov. 13, and California's results must be certified by Dec. 3 — but for Election Day, California counts its ballots under its existing procedures.
