Supreme Court Rejects Trump Bid to Set Aside California Ballots

The Supreme Court on Monday evening declined to intervene in the Justice Department’s effort to have California set aside 20,000 ballots it flagged as potentially cast by noncitizens. The request came ahead of Tuesday’s midterm election and followed defeats for the administration in lower courts, including a 2-1 ruling by a federal appeals court.

Supreme Court Blocks Trump Effort to Discard California Ballots

The Supreme Court refused to let the Trump administration set aside 20,000 California ballots based on a list the Justice Department acknowledged carried a high risk of errors. The decision on Monday came just before the midterm election, protecting ballots that multiple courts had declined to exclude.

The administration’s request followed a 2-1 rejection by a federal appeals court. A district judge had also questioned the list’s reliability, while an appeals court panel said changes to vote-by-mail procedures should be taken to Congress rather than pursued through the courts.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the court had rejected what he called an attack on the state’s electoral process. He said Californians could have confidence the state would conduct a free and fair election on Tuesday.

The case puts the stakes of election administration in sharp relief: voters’ ballots should not be set aside on the strength of a list the government itself conceded might be substantially flawed. The court’s decision leaves the ballots in the election process.

Supreme Court Leaves 20,000 Flagged California Ballots in Play

The Supreme Court declined to intervene in the Trump administration’s attempt to pause 20,000 California ballots flagged as potentially cast by noncitizens. The decision came on Monday, the day before the midterm election, meaning the ballots would remain in the election process rather than being held aside for citizenship checks.

The Justice Department acknowledged a high risk that its list contained errors, a weakness that helped prompt lower courts to reject the request. A federal appeals court ruled 2-1 against the administration, and its panel said changes to vote-by-mail procedures should be addressed by Congress, not the courts.

Conservative activists and commentators condemned the Supreme Court’s refusal, arguing that once ballots are mixed with others, they cannot be separated. One prominent critic called the justices “Supreme Cowards.”

The court’s decision leaves officials to proceed with the election under the existing process, while the administration’s concern about potentially ineligible votes has not resulted in the requested hold. The dispute highlights the tension between acting on election-integrity concerns and relying on a list the government acknowledged may contain substantial mistakes.