DOJ asks Supreme Court to pause California ballot counting

The Department of Justice filed a notice on Monday seeking immediate injunctive relief from the U.S. Supreme Court. The department is asking the high court to intervene in a dispute with California regarding the counting of voter ballots. This move occurs one day before Tuesday's Election Day.

The federal government argues that 20,000 likely noncitizens are currently on California's voter roll. DOJ officials contend that these individuals' ballots should be set aside and excluded from the count until their citizenship status is verified. The department has characterized its involvement as a necessary step to ensure election integrity.

Lower courts have previously rejected the federal government's emergency requests. A divided panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the DOJ's bid on Friday. Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez wrote that granting the relief posed a material risk of disenfranchisement. They noted that creating a new system to segregate ballots while voting is already underway is infeasible for the state and Los Angeles County.

The 9th Circuit panel cited the Purcell principle, which discourages changing election rules on the eve of an election. They also pointed to the National Voter Registration Act. This law prevents states from systematically removing ineligible voters within 90 days of a federal election. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented from the decision.

Independent analysis suggests the number of disputed ballots may be lower than the federal estimate. Data scientists at the University of California Los Angeles Voting Rights Project accessed the DOJ list through a court order. They found that 42% of the names on the federal list do not appear on California's current voter roll. Their review also identified naturalized citizens among the flagged voters.

The legal conflict is part of a wider escalation between the DOJ and California election officials. In recent weeks, the department sent subpoenas to state officials and warned of potential criminal prosecution for allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots. A federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order late Friday. This order bars the Trump administration from threatening or coercing election officials. The government has appealed that ruling as well.