Trump Administration Seeks Supreme Court Help to Hold 20,000 California Ballots

The Justice Department filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Monday. The request asks the justices to order California to set aside approximately 20,000 mail ballots. The administration argues these votes should be held until voter citizenship status is verified. The filing comes one day before the midterm elections.

The dispute centers on a list of voters the federal government suspects may not be U.S. citizens. California officials contend the list is unreliable and likely includes many citizens. The state argues that separating these ballots now would be logistically impossible. Voting in California began in early October, and hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been processed.

The case follows a lower court ruling that denied the initial request. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter warned that segregating ballots could disenfranchise citizens. Carter, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton, noted that the demand threatened the integrity of the upcoming vote. He described the potential impact on the democratic process as severe.

A panel of three judges reviewed the district court's decision. Two judges voted to uphold the order allowing the ballots to be counted. One judge on the panel was appointed by President Trump, while another was appointed by President Joe Biden. A third judge, also appointed by Trump, dissented. That judge argued that California’s refusal to separate the ballots encourages the violation of federal law.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote the appeal to the high court. He requested a limited injunction to keep the challenged ballots separate while the case proceeds. Sauer warned that once California mixes the disputed votes with lawful ones, retrieving them becomes difficult. The Justice Department seeks a quick resolution to the legal battle.

The administration has pursued this issue aggressively during the current term. Noncitizen voting is rare, yet the government has made it a priority. The Supreme Court has heard several emergency appeals from the White House recently. The justices previously rejected a different push by the president to restrict mail ballots before these midterms.