Politics1 min read

Trump asks Supreme Court to block 20,000 California ballots before midterms

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The Justice Department's petition demands that California segregate ballots associated with a Department of Homeland Security list until citizenship can be verified. State election authorities counter that the federal data is fundamentally unreliable and cannot be sorted accurately since voting began in early October. Judge David Carter previously ruled against the administration, cautioning that unproven executive allegations should not threaten the democratic process. These legal challenges align with President Donald Trump's repeated claims of widespread fraud, despite audits confirming noncitizen voting is rare.

Key points

  • Federal courts warned that permitting the executive branch to discount votes over unprove…: Federal courts warned that permitting the executive branch to discount votes over unproven claims threatens democracy.
  • California maintains that relying on the Department of Homeland Security list risks disen…: California maintains that relying on the Department of Homeland Security list risks disenfranchising thousands of eligible voters.
  • Independent studies and official state audits consistently demonstrate that voting by non…: Independent studies and official state audits consistently demonstrate that voting by noncitizens remains extremely rare.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

California says the move to block ballots from suspected noncitizens could disenfranchise eligible voters.

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to stop California from counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 voters it claims are not US citizens.

The emergency request, filed on Monday, just one day before the midterm elections, is the latest development in a legal battle between the administration and California, a Democratic stronghold and the most populous US state.

California says the move could disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters.

The Department of Justice wants California to set aside ballots from voters on a list compiled by the Department of Homeland Security until after their citizenship status is confirmed.

But California says the list is unreliable and could include thousands of US citizens.

Voting has been under way since early October, and state officials say it would be nearly impossible to separate the ballots in question.

Last week, a federal judge rejected the administration’s request, raising concerns about the reliability of the data on the list.

“If the executive can…

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