Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Segregate California Ballots Tied to Alleged Noncitizens

The Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to order California to set aside more than 20,000 mail ballots that federal officials say were cast by individuals likely not U.S. citizens. In an emergency filing, Solicitor General D. John Sauer requested that the ballots be segregated and withheld from counting until citizenship can be verified.

Sauer called the request a “modest remedy,” writing that “once California commingles the challenged ballots with lawful ones, there is no way to get the challenged ballots back.” The Justice Department argues that 18 U.S.C. § 611 makes noncitizen voting in federal elections a crime and that states cannot lawfully count such ballots. It contends the United States would suffer permanent harm if the ballots are processed, noting California’s mail-ballot deadline runs through November 10.

The dispute began after the department identified more than 20,000 registered voters in California who, based on publicly available voter-roll data, appear likely not to be citizens. On October 15 it sued the state, asserting that California’s refusal to set the ballots aside violated federal law and the Supremacy Clause. California officials dispute the list’s accuracy and say the request risks disenfranchising eligible voters.

Lower courts rejected the administration’s earlier requests. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter denied a temporary restraining order, stating it “would wreak havoc and disrupt the election.” The Ninth Circuit, in a 2-1 ruling on Friday, also declined to order segregation, holding that the federal government lacks authority to dictate state election procedures. The Supreme Court application was assigned to Justice Elena Kagan.

Voting in California has been underway since early October. More than 6 million mail ballots had been returned statewide as of Sunday out of more than 23 million registered voters. Federal law has long prohibited noncitizens from voting in federal elections, while states retain primary responsibility for election administration. The case is part of broader administration efforts on the issue; in September the Supreme Court allowed continued use of an expanded federal database for individualized citizenship checks of voter records while litigation continues.