Supreme Court Rejects Trump Bid To Halt California Ballots
The Supreme Court said no. Just one day before the midterm elections, the high court rejected a last-ditch plea from the Trump administration. They asked justices to stop California from counting 20,000 mail-in ballots. The feds claimed these votes came from people who are not citizens. The court denied the request to set aside the ballots.
This move came on Monday, according to the New York Post. The Justice Department wanted an emergency order. They feared that once the state mixed these challenged ballots with legal ones, they could never be separated. Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote the petition. He argued that "Once California commingles the challenged ballots with lawful ones, there is no way to get the challenged ballots back," per the New York Post. He called the request a "modest remedy."
A divided panel of the Ninth Circuit had already said no. They rejected the Justice Department's bid to impound the ballots. The panel found the administration overstepped. They said federal courts should not change how ballots are counted this close to an election. This principle is long-standing, per the New York Post. The emergency application then went to Justice Elena Kagan. She handles emergency matters from California. She is an Obama appointee.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court denied the Trump administration's emergency request to force California to set aside mail-in ballots from roughly 20,000 suspected noncitizens until their citizenship could be verified, one day before the midterm elections. https://t.co/hjQzYV7Ht3
— SCOTUS Wire (@scotus_wire) November 2, 2026
Not everyone agreed with the lower court's view. Judge Patrick Bumatay, a Trump appointee, dissented. He warned that "once those ballots are processed, it would be impossible to identify them," according to the New York Post. He believed the district court needed to keep its ability to grant relief later. But the Supreme Court did not step in to help the federal side.
The fight over these ballots is part of a larger effort. The case, USA vs. State of California, remains active. A hearing is scheduled for November 13, per RedState. Meanwhile, officials say they are catching people breaking the law. Six more foreign nationals were announced as arrested by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. They allegedly registered to vote and lied on forms to become citizens.
Dan Dow, the District Attorney for San Luis Obispo County, also disseminated information. He announced the arrest of one person in his area. He added that his office has 16 more people under investigation. The department is nearing a filing decision on those cases, according to RedState. The Justice Department insists they are not asking for drastic steps. Last month, First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli stated that they were not asking California to take any drastic steps other than to sequester the ballots from the suspected noncitizens.
The government believes the number of bad ballots is high. "We believe it's at a minimum of 20,000. That's the floor," Essayli said, per the New York Post. He argued that time is running out for voters. "Every minute that goes by, American citizen votes are being diluted in the state of California," Essayli added.
