DOJ makes last-ditch request to Supreme Court to block 20,000 California voters

By Andrew Childers

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Voters mark their ballots during California’s primary election in Pasadena on June 2. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Voters mark their ballots during California’s primary election in Pasadena on June 2. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and block California from counting ballots from 20,000 potential voters that the Trump administration claims are “likely” noncitizens.

The request comes after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for the second time rebuffed DOJ’s request for a temporary restraining order against California.

The Supreme Court has already rejected Republican efforts to use a gerrymandered Missouri map for the general election and squashed President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict mail voting, citing the concern, in the mail case, that late changes to election rules can cause confusion. 

Those cases came before general election voting had started. In California, DOJ demanded the state set aside the ballots of 20,000 “likely noncitizens” after ballots had already been sent to voters.

A federal district court judge and an appeals court have already suggested the Trump administration cannot force a state to set aside ballots because the Constitution reserves the power to administer elections for the states.

Denying DOJ’s request on Friday, the Ninth Circuit majority said, “We decline the United States’s invitation to contravene the Elections Clause by undermining the Constitution’s plain text.”

DOJ has made a similar demand to Washington, claiming it had identified 400 people on the voting rolls who are not citizens. Washington rejected that demand, saying the list DOJ supplied was riddled with errors.

The Trump administration had previously tried to leapfrog the district court when Judge David Carter didn’t rule as quickly as DOJ demanded, only to get rebuffed by the Ninth Circuit. Though the appeals court dismissed the request as premature, two judges on the panel felt the need to address the core of DOJ’s lawsuit as well.

“If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger,” Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, wrote.