Supreme Court rejects Trump administration push to set aside thousands of California ballots
The court declined an emergency request to set aside ballots cast by voters the administration alleged were noncitizens, hours before Election Day.
TL;DR
- The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s emergency request to make California set aside thousands of disputed mail ballots, according to the Associated Press and CBS News.
- The Justice Department had asked the court to stop the state from counting ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters it alleged were likely noncitizens.
- The decision addressed the emergency request; the underlying election litigation and status of individual ballots remain governed by other proceedings.
The Associated Press reported that the Supreme Court rejected the administration's request to force California to set aside thousands of ballots from people federal officials alleged were noncitizens. CBS News also reported the court's rejection. [1] [2]
The Justice Department sought to prevent counting ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters on a government list of people it said were likely noncitizens. California officials disputed the administration's position, and the case was considered shortly before Election Day. [1] [2]
The court's action denied emergency relief. AP said the administration argued that temporarily segregating ballots would still allow lawful votes to be counted later; California officials said the request interfered with election administration. [1] [2]
The ruling did not resolve every dispute about the underlying voter list or all related litigation. The immediate consequence was that the requested order to set aside the ballots was not issued before voting concluded. [1] [2]
Why it matters
The ruling sets a limit on a late emergency effort to alter how a state handles ballots just before a federal election. It resolves the request before the court, while underlying legal arguments and related cases remain distinct.
Editor's note
The administration's allegations about voter eligibility are attributed claims, not established findings about individual voters.