Trump administration takes California ballot fight to Supreme Court
On the eve of the US midterm elections, President Donald Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court on Nov 2 to temporarily block California from counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters who federal officials allege are likely non-US citizens.
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officials → take → voters
Escalating a legal fight that could affect thousands of voters, the Justice Department filed the emergency request as it seeks to prevent counting the disputed ballots until each voter’s citizenship status can be verified.
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status → escalate → ballots
A federal appeals court refused the request on Oct 30.
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court → refuse → Oct
Trump’s fellow Republicans are fighting to retain control of Congress in the Nov 3 midterms.
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Republicans → fight → midterms
The administration has intensified its focus on alleged noncitizen voting in the run-up to the midterms.
“Once California commingles the challenged ballots with lawful ones, there is no way to get the challenged ballots back,” the Justice Department said in its request to the Supreme Court.
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Department → intensify → Court
The administration is demanding that California separate any allegedly unlawful ballots from other ballots and not count them until those voters are determined to be US citizens.
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voters → demand → them
It urged the court on Nov 2 to act quickly by issuing that order on an interim basis while the justices formally decide the Justice Department’s request.
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justices → urge → request
“This latest move reeks of desperation, and is another attempt to undermine our elections and trample on the rule of law,” California Attorney-General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, said in a statement, vowing to “defend the fundamental right to vote and push back against this lawlessness.”
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Bonta → reek → lawlessness
Trump has made false claims about widespread US voting fraud including in the 2020 election lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
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Trump → make → Biden
Multiple studies and state audits show that ineligible voting, including by noncitizens, is rare.
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voting → show → noncitizens
“We will continue pursuing every available legal avenue to protect the integrity of our elections and ensure federal law is enforced,” acting US Deputy Attorney-General Trent McCotter said in a social media post.
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McCotter → continue → post
The US Constitution assigns the responsibility of administering elections to states, though the federal government has some oversight.
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government → assign → oversight
The lawsuit marked a rare federal intervention in the voting process and signalled a willingness by the administration to contest the election results in court.
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lawsuit → mark → court
The administration already sought to restrict voting by mail — a mode of casting ballots used more often by Democratic-leaning voters — but the Supreme Court in September rebuffed that effort.
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Court → seek → effort
And a federal judge on Nov 1 dismissed the administration’s lawsuit concerning the US Senate race in Alaska.
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judge → dismiss → Alaska
The list of 20,000 registered voters was amassed by the US Department of Homeland Security and sent to California officials and to Los Angeles County officials.
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list → register → officials
The Justice Department sued in federal court on Oct 15, claiming California is unlawfully preventing its enforcement of a 1996 US law that makes it a criminal offence for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.
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noncitizens → sue → elections
The department said California’s action violated the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which holds that federal law generally preempts state law.
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law → say → law
California has said that the state’s safeguards against noncitizen voting are robust and that the lawsuit threatens to deprive 20,000 people of their right to vote based on vague accusations.
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lawsuit → say → accusations
The administration’s process for scrutinising voter lists to identify noncitizens is flawed and likely rife with errors, it said in court papers.
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it → scrutinise → papers
California has 52 seats in the House of Representatives, more than any other state.
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California → have → state
Democrats need a net gain of four House seats to win a majority in the chamber.
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Democrats → need → chamber
US District Judge David Carter in Los Angeles denied the administration’s request on Oct 28.
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Carter → deny → Oct
“Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the executive branch,” Carter wrote.
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Carter → seek → branch
Carter raised concerns over the reliability of the administration’s data, noting that people recently flagged by the federal government as noncitizens on voter rolls in other states have repeatedly turned out to be naturalised US citizens.
“If the executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger,” Carter wrote.
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Carter → raise → danger
The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals also refused on Oct 30 to block the ballots, emphasising the state’s power over election procedures and California’s “comprehensive statutory scheme to ensure the integrity of its elections,” including a system for cancelling registrations if a voter is shown to be ineligible.
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voter → base → registrations
Siding with the administration could result in disenfranchisement “and could jeopardise the county’s entire election,” the 9th Circuit said.
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Circuit → side → election
The administration has taken an increasingly aggressive approach toward how states run elections.
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states → take → elections
The Justice Department has told election officials in all 50 states that they could face criminal prosecution if they knowingly allow noncitizens to remain on their rolls or cast ballots.
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noncitizens → tell → ballots
It has lost a series of lawsuits seeking to obtain voter rolls, including sensitive personal information, from dozens of states.
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It → lose → states
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