Trump Administration Petitions Supreme Court Over California Ballot Segregation

The Trump administration has escalated its pre-election legal battle over voting procedures, asking the Supreme Court to mandate that California segregate the mail-in ballots of more than 20,000 voters whom federal officials suspect are “likely” non-citizens.

The emergency application filed by the Department of Justice arrives after lower federal courts repeatedly rebuffed the administration’s efforts to set aside the contested ballots in the final days leading up to the midterm elections. The government’s core argument rests on the irreversible nature of mixing votes once an election is underway.

“Once California commingles the challenged ballots with lawful ones, there is no way to get the challenged ballots back,” the DOJ wrote in its filing to the high court. The application, signed by Solicitor General D. John Sauer, argued that “the only way to preserve the district court’s ability to grant relief to the United States after a full merits proceeding, therefore, is to segregate the challenged ballots now.”

The administration’s Supreme Court petition follows a sequence of legal setbacks in lower courts. The DOJ initiated the dispute after threatening California state officials with emergency legal action unless they investigated potential ineligible voters within a 48-hour window and set aside their ballots. When state officials did not comply to the government’s satisfaction, the administration filed a formal lawsuit.

Federal judges quickly moved to block the administration’s requests. In late October, U.S. District Judge David Carter denied a temporary restraining order sought by the government, questioning the credibility of the administration’s voter lists. Judge Carter explicitly cited the “vagueness” of the government’s “descriptions of its procedures and the unreliability of its similar claims in other states.”

Following that decision, a federal appeals court delivered a 2-1 ruling rejecting the administration’s bid to halt or alter mail ballot processing. The appellate panel warned that granting the government’s request “would provoke catastrophic change, upending the administration of the election.”

Despite these judicial roadblocks, federal officials signaled that they intend to continue their legal campaign. “We will continue pursuing every available legal avenue to protect the integrity of our elections and ensure federal law is enforced,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said in a statement shared on social media.

The California Secretary of State’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the Supreme Court filing.