The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to block California from counting mail-in ballots cast by more than 20,000 registered voters whose citizenship federal officials had challenged. The decision comes as the country heads into high-stakes midterm elections where control of Congress is on the line.
The emergency request, brought by the U.S. Justice Department, sought to prevent state and local election officials from counting ballots submitted by individuals whom federal authorities claimed were likely non-U.S. citizens. The administration urged the high court to order California to segregate and withhold those votes until each voter’s citizenship status could be verified. In its filing, the department argued that once improperly cast ballots are commingled with legitimate votes, the resulting electoral harm becomes irreversible.
The legal dispute centers on a list of roughly 20,000 registered voters compiled by the Department of Homeland Security and submitted to election officials in California and Los Angeles County. On October 15, the Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit alleging that California’s refusal to sequester the ballots violated a 1996 federal law making it a criminal offense for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, as well as the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.
California officials defended the state’s election protocols, calling the lawsuit an attempt to strip thousands of eligible citizens of their voting rights based on vague and unverified accusations. State attorneys argued that federal screening methods were deeply flawed and susceptible to error. Lower federal courts agreed with the state. U.S. District Judge David Carter in Los Angeles denied the administration’s preliminary injunction request on October 28, writing that the executive branch’s eleventh-hour intervention threatened constitutional election procedures and democracy itself. Carter noted that similar federal challenges in other states had mistakenly flagged naturalized American citizens as noncitizens.
Following Judge Carter’s ruling, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also declined on Friday to block the ballot counting. The appellate court underscored California’s constitutional authority over election administration, pointing to the state’s comprehensive statutory safeguards designed to verify eligibility and purge ineligible registrations. The 9th Circuit warned that granting the administration’s request would risk widespread disenfranchisement and jeopardize county election operations.
The confrontation marked an unusual federal intervention in state-run elections just days before the November 3 midterms. Republicans are fighting to retain their majority in Congress, with Democrats needing a net gain of four seats to flip the House of Representatives. California holds 52 seats in the House, more than any other state, making it a crucial battleground and a frequent target of administration policies.
Throughout the election cycle, the administration has intensified scrutiny over voting procedures, warning election officials across all 50 states that they could face criminal prosecution for permitting noncitizens to remain on voter rolls or cast ballots. The administration has also pursued numerous legal actions to secure sensitive voter file data from various states, though many of those efforts have failed. A prior Justice Department push to restrict mail-in voting was similarly rebuffed by the Supreme Court in September, when the justices also blocked Missouri from implementing a controversial congressional map during ongoing elections to prevent electoral chaos.
Independent research and state audits have consistently shown that noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare. An investigative review published in July identified just 129 instances nationwide where noncitizens had been charged with illegal voting since the 1996 statute took effect, with many incidents stemming from administrative errors or voter confusion rather than deliberate fraud.
