White House asks high court to pause California vote count for 20,000 voters

The Trump administration requested emergency action from the Supreme Court on Monday evening to halt the counting of mail-in ballots in California. The White House seeks to force state election officials to separate votes cast by approximately 20,000 people identified on a federal list as suspected noncitizens. This legal maneuver follows a 2-1 decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday that denied the Justice Department's bid to segregate those ballots.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed the request, describing the sought relief as a modest remedy. He argued that preserving the district court's ability to grant relief later requires immediate action. "Once California commingles the challenged ballots with lawful ones, there is no way to get the challenged ballots back," Sauer wrote. He added that separating the votes now ensures that ballots from noncitizens do not dilute valid votes.

The dispute centers on a list of 20,000 registered voters that the Justice Department and Los Angeles County officials claimed were not U.S. citizens. The federal government demanded that any returned ballots from these individuals be set aside pending citizenship verification. Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder and County Clerk Dean Logan supported the federal effort, and both sides sought a court order to enforce the segregation.

Lower courts have thus far blocked the administration's push. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Carter issued a temporary restraining order preventing election workers from counting the specific ballots. Carter, appointed by President Bill Clinton, stated that the public interest favors protecting constitutional rights. He noted that voters who met California's registration requirements should not lose their core right due to allegations from a procedure prone to errors.

The 9th Circuit panel upheld the lower court's stance on Friday by a 2-1 vote. The appellate judges denied the Justice Department's request to require the separation of the ballots during the citizenship verification process. The administration's emergency appeal to the Supreme Court represents its latest attempt in a fast-moving legal battle. The high court rejected the request on Monday evening.

Voting in California began in early October, and the state has more than 23 million registered voters. According to the California secretary of state's office, more than 6 million mail ballots had been returned statewide as of Sunday. The legal fight unfolds in the days leading up to the general election, with officials on both sides worried about the accuracy of the noncitizen list and the risk of disenfranchising eligible voters.