Supreme Court declines to block California ballot count amid Trump administration challenge

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to issue a limited injunction that the Justice Department had sought to stop California from counting more than 20,000 mail-in ballots pending verification of voter citizenship. The request, filed by the Justice Department under the Trump administration, argued that the ballots might include non-U.S. citizens.

Earlier, a federal lawsuit filed in October was rejected by a California district court, and Los Angeles District Judge David Carter warned that singling out ballots could "wreak havoc" on the election process and undermine public confidence. Carter wrote that allowing the executive branch to discount votes on unproven allegations threatened democracy.

The Justice Department’s list of suspected non-citizen voters was compiled by the Department of Homeland Security. California officials said the methodology was likely flawed and contained errors, noting that thousands of U.S. citizens appeared on the list. A federal judge recently ordered the department to share the list with an immigrant-rights group and a UCLA voting-rights watchdog.

California, which conducts early voting weeks ahead of the midterms, has processed hundreds of thousands of ballots and is not considered a competitive state for the Republican Party in the upcoming elections. Governor Gavin Newsom, a vocal critic of the administration, warned against interference in the state's voting procedures.