U.S. Supreme Court refuses to block thousands of mail ballots in California

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined a request from President Donald Trump's administration to set aside 20,000 mail ballots in California. The Republican administration flagged these voters as likely non-citizens on the state's voter rolls ahead of the midterm elections. The high court did not give its reasoning, which is common in emergency decisions.

Legal Battles

Separately on Monday, Chief Judge James Boasberg ruled that the administration's last-minute demands violated the Constitution's Elections Clause by trying to take authority over election rules that belong to states and Congress alone. District Court Judge Trina Thompson questioned Justice Department attorney Kenneth Kao about errors in the data. Mr. Kao agreed there was a high error rate, while Justice Department federal prosecutor Bill Essayli said he was highly confident the people on the list were not entitled to vote.

State Response

California officials stated the list had many errors and that setting ballots aside could disenfranchise legal voters. California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the appeal an attempt to undermine elections. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter warned that separating ballots would create havoc and threaten democracy, an order later upheld by a 2-1 appeals court panel.

Context

Election laws in the United States give individual states primary authority over running elections and setting voter rules. Disputes over voter rolls and mail-in ballots often increase right before major national elections.