DOJ Files Emergency Petition With Supreme Court Over California Ballots

The Department of Justice filed a notice on Monday requesting that the U.S. Supreme Court issue an injunction to stop California from counting the ballots of 20,000 voters the federal government labels as likely noncitizens. The appeal arrives one day before Election Day.

A divided panel at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the DOJ's emergency request on Friday. Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez wrote that granting relief on the eve of the vote creates a material risk of disenfranchisement and jeopardizes the county's entire election process. They cited the Purcell principle, which discourages changing election rules late in the cycle, and the National Voter Registration Act, which restricts removing ineligible voters within 90 days of a federal election. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented from that decision.

Before the 9th Circuit ruling, federal Judge David Carter rejected the DOJ's initial bid to set aside these ballots. Carter described the department's actions as a broad, ongoing pattern of attempted election interference by federal officials.

The conflict began when the DOJ identified 20,000 names on California's voter roll it claims belong to noncitizens. Los Angeles County election officials and the state argue the federal list is unreliable and that segregating ballots now is infeasible. Data scientists at the University of California Los Angeles' Voting Rights Project recently gained access to the DOJ's list through a court order. Their analysis found that 42% of the names do not appear on California's current voter roll. The review also identified naturalized citizens on the list. County officials note that many individuals on the federal list did not have active registrations or receive mailed ballots, suggesting the number of disputed votes is lower than 20,000.

The petition follows a series of aggressive moves by the administration. The DOJ sent subpoenas to California election officials and warned them of potential criminal prosecution for allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots. Late Friday, a federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order. This order bars the Trump administration from threatening or coercing election officials to stop processing ballots of registered voters the government deems ineligible. The federal government has appealed that restraining order.

The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to hear the case. If the justices agree to intervene, they must determine if the ruling can be issued before Tuesday's election. The DOJ maintains that citizenship must be verified before these specific ballots are counted.