Photo: Carol M. Highsmith / LOC (archive)

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s emergency request to force California officials to set aside about 20,000 mail ballots associated with voters federal officials had identified as likely noncitizens.

The court’s one-sentence order gave no explanation and listed no dissents. The decision came hours after the administration filed its emergency application and a day before Tuesday’s midterm elections.

The ruling denies the requested emergency intervention. It does not establish that every person on the administration’s list is a citizen or a noncitizen, and it does not amount to a finding that the disputed ballots were unlawfully cast.

The administration had asked that the ballots be kept separate while voters’ citizenship could be checked. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that once challenged ballots were processed and mixed with other ballots, they could not be separated later.

California and groups challenging the administration’s position disputed the reliability of its list and warned that the requested action could disenfranchise eligible voters. Lower courts had declined to grant the administration’s requested relief before it turned to the justices.

The Supreme Court action is distinct from the separate preliminary ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg restricting federal demands to California officials based on suspected-noncitizen lists. Neither the individual criminal voting prosecutions announced Monday nor the filing of the emergency application established the accuracy of an entire statewide list.

JBizNews Desk | Washington, D.C.
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