The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s request to delay counting certain California mail ballots pending citizenship checks. (Foto: Instagram)
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, Nov. 2, rejected the Trump administration’s request to block the counting of mail ballots cast in California by voters whose citizenship federal authorities have questioned. The administration wanted the ballots held until officials verified the voters’ eligibility. Its list included about 20,000 people.
The ruling came a day before the Nov. 3 midterm elections and marked a setback for the administration. Voters nationwide are choosing all 435 members of the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate’s 100 members. California and some other states are also electing governors. The Supreme Court’s one-page order did not explain the justices’ reasoning.
The request had previously been rejected by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter on Oct. 28. Carter cited concerns about the reliability of the government’s data and the possibility that eligible U.S. citizens’ votes could be excluded. Trump criticized the judge’s decision the following day, telling reporters, “California is very corrupt. Elections are extremely corrupt.” He added, “The judge shouldn’t have done that, but of course we’ll appeal.”
On Oct. 30, another federal court denied the administration’s request by a 2-1 vote. The majority said the government had not made a sufficient case for requiring election officials to change their procedures while voting was underway. The administration had argued that officials should identify ballots associated with names on its list and delay counting them until citizenship checks were complete. Courts cited risks to eligible voters and the vote-counting process, while California officials challenged the method used to identify people suspected of not being U.S. citizens.
