Supreme Court Rejects Trump Administration Bid Over Disputed California Ballots

The United States Supreme Court denied an emergency request from the Department of Justice to block California from counting mail in ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters that federal officials alleged were likely noncitizens.

The unsigned, one sentence order came on Monday evening after six hours and twenty four minutes, with no publicly noted dissents. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in the emergency petition that the government suffered an injury to its sovereignty and that the ballots must be segregated before being commingled with lawful votes. First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli emphasized the urgent need for high court intervention ahead of Tuesday midterm elections, stating that thirty four people had been charged and that the goal was to prevent noncitizens from casting votes in close contests.

California Governor Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta praised the ruling, while state officials submitted sampling data showing that a portion of names on the federal list were American citizens, had canceled registrations, or had never voted. Federal judges in Washington and San Francisco issued separate rulings blocking the administration from demanding the segregation of ballots or threatening election officials with prosecution.

A three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals briefly lifted a block on the noncitizen investigations before the full eleven judge court vacated that order and scheduled a rehearing. The Supreme Court declined the administration request without asking California to respond.