Trump Team Seeks Court Order To Hold 20,000 California Ballots

The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, asking the justices to stop California from counting approximately 20,000 mail ballots. The request was submitted the day before the November 3 midterm elections, aiming to pause the tabulation of votes from voters the federal government believes may not be citizens.

This move follows a ruling by a divided federal appeals court that rejected the Department of Justice's earlier bid to set aside the ballots. The federal government argues these specific votes should be excluded until voter status is fully verified. California officials counter that the list of disputed voters is unreliable and likely contains many verified U.S. citizens.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote to the Supreme Court requesting a "limited injunction." He argued that if California mixes the contested ballots with valid ones, the state will lose the ability to separate them later. "Once California commingles the challenged ballots with lawful ones, there is no way to get the challenged ballots back," Sauer wrote.

Election experts in California note that the logistical challenge is severe. Voting opened in early October for the state's roughly 23 million registered voters. Hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been processed, and local officials say separating the disputed votes now would be nearly impossible without disrupting the entire count.

Lower courts have consistently supported California. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, a Clinton appointee, denied the Justice Department's request in a district court ruling. He warned that separating the ballots would "wreak havoc" on the election and erode public trust in the democratic process.

A three-judge panel on the appeals court upheld Carter's decision in a 2-1 vote. The majority included one judge appointed by President Biden and one appointed by Trump. The dissenting judge, also a Trump appointee, argued that California's refusal to separate the ballots encourages the violation of federal law.

The Supreme Court has granted emergency appeals to the Trump administration on several occasions during this term. However, the justices previously rejected an effort by the president to restrict mail ballots before this midterm cycle.