Supreme Court Blocks Trump Bid to Separate California Ballots

The Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s request on Monday to separate up to 20,000 mail-in ballots in California. The administration argued these ballots could have been cast by noncitizens. The Court issued a brief order without explanation. It turned away the emergency ask filed just hours earlier.

Lower courts had already ruled against the Trump administration in this dispute. The Supreme Court moved so quickly that it did not ask California for its views first, a standard step in such cases.

California officials resisted the Justice Department’s intervention. They noted that state law already makes it illegal for noncitizens to vote. State leaders also expressed skepticism about the accuracy of the federal government’s data.

The administration has warned California election officials they could face prosecution if they allow noncitizens to vote. A federal judge ordered the Justice Department to stop making those threats on Saturday. The Trump administration claims it has grounds to intervene because a federal law prohibits voting by noncitizens. This federal law applies even though local officials exclusively administer elections.

Trump has long claimed without evidence that millions of noncitizens illegally vote in U.S. elections. Experts say this occurrence is rare. The administration has pressured states to check voter citizenship using a federal database. That effort has faced multiple setbacks. When the federal government said it confirmed 185 noncitizens registered to vote in Nevada, the state responded that all of them were citizens.

Thousands of mail-in ballots have already been submitted and processed in California. Election officials check ballot validity by comparing the voter’s signature to registration records. Once that check is complete, the details identifying the voter are discarded before the vote is counted. This makes it impossible to retroactively determine which votes may have been cast by the alleged noncitizens.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also rejected the administration’s claims. It said there was no evidence Congress intended the federal law barring noncitizens from voting to pre-empt state election laws. The Court’s Monday decision ends the emergency bid to alter the count in California.