DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Segregate 20,000 California Ballots
The Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to intervene after lower courts rejected its request to set aside thousands of mail-in ballots.
At a glance
- More than 20,000 California mail-in ballots should be kept separate, the Supreme Court was requested by the Justice Department to order temporarily.
- Lower federal courts and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previously denied the administration's requests.
- The administration argues the measure is necessary to prevent unlawful votes from being counted, while California warns of disenfranchising eligible voters.
The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Monday to order California election officials to set aside mail-in ballots cast by more than 20,000 people flagged as suspected noncitizens. The emergency appeal follows rejections from lower federal courts as the legal battle unfolds right before Tuesday's elections.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in a court filing that separating the disputed ballots is necessary to protect the integrity of the vote, stating that commingling them makes the harm impossible to remedy later.
Lower Courts Reject Administration Request
The Supreme Court appeal comes after a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 on Friday to deny the government's request to separate the ballots. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented from the panel's decision.
Last week, U.S. District Judge David Carter in Los Angeles also rejected a temporary restraining order sought by the Justice Department. Judge Carter wrote that constitutional rights and democracy are at stake and cautioned against depriving individuals of voting rights based on procedures with potential errors.
Dispute Over Voter Rolls and Accuracy
The legal conflict began after the Justice Department sent letters to California officials and the Los Angeles County registrar containing a list of 20,000 registered individuals it alleged were not U.S. citizens. The department demanded that any ballots returned by those individuals be held back from tabulation.
California officials have contested the accuracy of the federal government's list, arguing that safeguards protecting the state's voter rolls are robust. State authorities contend that forcing the segregation could create errors that disenfranchise eligible voters and jeopardize the election process.
What the Supreme Court Appeal Means
The emergency petition places the high court in the middle of a high-stakes dispute over state election administration and federal oversight just as millions of votes are being processed. More than six million mail ballots have already been returned statewide out of over 23 million registered voters.
The outcome of the request will determine whether the challenged ballots are sequestered while the underlying lawsuit proceeds or if they will be immediately processed alongside all other votes.
What to watch: The Supreme Court's response to the emergency application filed by the Justice Department.
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- Supreme Court
- Department of Justice
- California
- Elections
- Voting Rights
- United States
- Politics