Before Tuesday’s vote, Trump appeals to Supreme Court over segregating 20,000 California midterm ballots
Request reaches the Supreme Court
The Justice Department, led by Todd Blanche, has asked the Supreme Court for a “limited injunction,” seeking to keep ballots it considers suspect separate while voter status is checked. The federal government first sued over the allegations in mid-October.
A district court rejected the request, warning that isolating ballots could disrupt the election and damage voters’ confidence. Judge David Carter wrote that discounting votes based on unproven claims would put democracy at risk.
Questions over the voter list
The Department of Homeland Security compiled the list cited by the administration. California told the court that the method used to identify noncitizens was likely flawed and contained errors.
Last week, a federal judge ordered the Justice Department to provide the list to an immigrant rights group and a voting rights watchdog based at UCLA. An analysis included in a legal filing found that thousands of US citizens appeared to have been flagged as ineligible.
Election timing and state response
Early voting has continued in California for several weeks, and hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been processed. It is not clear whether the Supreme Court will rule in time to affect Tuesday’s election.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a prominent Trump critic, announced election law experts, poll observers and a voter help line ahead of voting. The state is heavily Democratic and is not expected to be competitive for Republicans in the midterms.
Broader claims of fraud
Trump has repeatedly made claims of election fraud, although multiple investigations have found such misconduct to be exceedingly rare. His current focus on alleged noncitizen voting has also been repeatedly challenged by research and investigations. Carter wrote that the federal government had never before sought, on the eve of an election, to pressure state and local authorities to abandon their election procedures.
Key points
- The Justice Department wants California to separate more than 20,000 ballots pending voter-status checks.
- Lower courts rejected the federal government’s initial request, and analysis found US citizens flagged on the list.
- Hundreds of thousands of California ballots have already been processed.
- It is unclear whether the Supreme Court will act before Tuesday’s election.