Full Court Denies DOJ Petition In California Election Case In About 7 Hours, No Reply Needed

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Blackman, J. (2026, November 3). Full Court Denies DOJ Petition In California Election Case In About 7 Hours, No Reply Needed. Reason. https://reason.com/volokh/2026/11/02/full-court-denies-doj-petition-in-california-election-case-in-about-7-hours-no-reply-needed/

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The Supreme Court quickly denied the Department of Justice’s emergency petition in a California election law case within about seven hours. The Solicitor General filed a roughly 20-page brief shortly before noon, but Circuit Justice Kagan immediately referred it to the full court without waiting for a response from California. Legal analyst Rick Hasen describes this swift dismissal as a "mercy killing," suggesting that the petition was unlikely to succeed due to its weak legal standing.

Written by AI on 2026-11-03, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

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Story summary

As of November 3, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-minute request by the Trump administration to set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots in California, which the Justice Department alleged may have been issued to non-U.S. citizens. This decision marks an end to the Trump administration's attempts to interfere with the midterm elections and highlights the state vs. federal divide in election law. Earlier this week, the DOJ had asked the Supreme Court to intervene after lower courts denied its request, citing concerns about voter eligibility. The rejection by the Supreme Court ensures that California can proceed with counting all ballots without delay, despite ongoing disputes over voter rolls and ballot integrity.

Written for “Supreme Court Rejects Trump Requests” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 29 other(s) covering the same event.

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📰 Supreme Court Rejects Trump Requests

Politics · 30 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

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This article reads leans left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 5 of 32 claims Outlet record 65/100

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⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 69/100

Supreme Court quickly rejects Trump effort to target alleged noncitizen voters in California Same event

NBC News

⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 4 of 17 claims Outlet record 78/100

Supreme Court rejects DOJ bid to set aside 20,000 California ballots from suspected noncitizens Same event

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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 69/100

Judge rejects DOJ's push to force California to set aside ballots Different event

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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 5 of 41 claims Outlet record 65/100

“Article A describes a federal judge rejecting DOJ's request, while Article B discusses the Supreme Court denying an emergency petition related to the case but at a later date.”

Judge denies DOJ effort to isolate 20,000 California mail ballots Different event

Washington Examiner

⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 3 claims Outlet record 69/100

“Article A reports a judge denying DOJ’s bid to isolate ballots in California, while Article B discusses a full court denying an emergency petition filed by the DOJ on a later date.”

Feds launch immediate appeal after judge rejects bid to stop California from counting 20K disputed ballots Different event

New York Post

Hedges 4 of 25 claims Outlet record 66/100

“Article A describes the initial filing of an appeal by the Justice Department after a judge rejects their bid, while Article B reports on the later decision by the full court denying the petition.”

Appeals court rejects DOJ effort to set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots, teeing up Supreme Court gambit Same event

Washington Examiner

⚖️ Centre further right than this Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 69/100

Court rejects DOJ effort to block 20,000 California votes Same event

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Hedges 0 of 20 claims Outlet record 66/100

Judge orders DOJ to stop trying to "intimidate" California election officials Different event

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⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 3 of 16 claims Outlet record 65/100

“Article A discusses a judge's order to stop DOJ from intimidating California election officials, while Article B talks about the Supreme Court denying a petition related to the same case but is clearly reporting on a separate and subsequent judicial action.”

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Josh Blackman

92 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 Those outcomes will get a lot of attention.

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🔮 And Kagan spared California the fate that befell Missouri, which had to file a pointless brief that no one would read.

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🔮 I thought it might be worthwhile to dig into the numbers a bit more.

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🔮 And her unwillingness to participate in any disciplinary proceedings suggests something is amiss.

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🔮 Let's hope that people across the media industry will take Josh Blackman's criticism to heart.

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 92 articles by Josh Blackman →

Narrative

Claims (8 extracted, 0 hedged)

I think we have seen a new record for speed on the emergency docket. asserted

we → think → docket

Today, shortly before noon, the Solicitor General filed an emergency application in the California election law case. asserted

General → file → case

Circuit Justice never even bothered calling for a response. asserted

Justice → bother → response

Shortly before 7:00, the petition was referred to the full Court, and was denied. asserted

petition → refer → Court

Rick Hasen calls it a mercy killing. asserted

Hasen → call → it

I think shadow execution is more appropriate. asserted

execution → think → ?

Indeed, this ruling was likely orchestrated by Circuit Justice Kagan before the petition was even filed. asserted

petition → orchestrate → Kagan

And Kagan spared California the fate that befell Missouri, which had to file a pointless brief that no one would read. asserted

one → spar → that

Full Court Denies DOJ Petition In California Election Case In About 7 Hours, No Reply Needed

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Claims (8 extracted, 0 hedged)