California mail ballots stay put after supreme court rejects trump administration bid

Emergency request denied

The Supreme Court turned down the administration’s last-ditch request on Monday. It sought to require California to separate ballots received from thousands of people it claims are not citizens. The court acted only on the request for emergency relief and did not ask California election officials to respond before ruling.

Judge cited identification flaws

Last week, U.S. District Judge David Carter rejected the Justice Department’s request for a temporary restraining order. The order would have required ballots from people on the government’s list to be kept apart. Carter described the administration’s method for identifying alleged noncitizens as “rife with uncertainty and errors,” according to the article.

California voter lists contested

The administration told California and Los Angeles County officials last month that more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens were on the state’s voter rolls. It directed officials to set aside ballots from those people until their citizenship was confirmed.

The administration later sent letters to officials in all 58 California counties, listing alleged noncitizens and demanding that their ballots be held aside. California has more than 23 million registered voters. The Justice Department sued state officials and Dean Logan, the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder and county clerk, seeking a court order to segregate the ballots.

Broader election efforts

President Trump has repeatedly alleged that significant numbers of noncitizens vote in U.S. elections, although confirmed cases are rare. Federal law bars noncitizens from voting in those elections, and prosecutors have charged more than 200 people with allegedly voting illegally in past elections.