Midterm Election: Justice Department Seeks Supreme Court Order on California Mail Ballots

The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Monday to pause the counting of disputed mail ballots in California.

The Justice Department is asking the high court for a limited injunction. This order would direct California to set aside approximately 20,000 ballots from voters the federal government suspects may not be citizens. The appeal comes the day before the midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress.

Federal officials argue that these ballots should not be counted until the voters' citizenship status is verified. Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote that once California commingles the challenged ballots with lawful ones, there is no way to retrieve them. The administration has prioritized identifying noncitizen voters this year, even though such cases are rare.

California officials contend the list of suspected noncitizens is highly unreliable and likely includes many U.S. citizens. State Attorney General Rob Bonta described the appeal as an attempt to undermine elections and trample on the rule of law. He said the move reeks of desperation.

Lower courts have already ruled against the federal government. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton, denied the Justice Department's request. He warned that segregating the ballots would wreak havoc on the elections and erode trust in the democratic process. A divided appeals court panel later upheld his order. Two judges voted in favor of the state, while a dissenting judge argued that California's refusal to separate the ballots encourages the violation of federal law.

Voting in California began in early October. The state mails a ballot to all roughly 23 million registered voters. Hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been processed. Election officials say finding and setting aside the challenged ballots now would be logistically impossible.

The Supreme Court has granted emergency appeals from the Trump administration on other matters during this term. However, the justices previously rejected the president's push to restrict mail ballots ahead of this same cycle of midterms.