The Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration’s last-minute attempt to force California to set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots that it claims were sent to noncitizens.
The brief, unsigned order offered no explanation and came after the administration alleged that thousands of ballots went to ineligible voters. Government lawyers had asked the justices to step in just hours earlier, after a federal appeals court panel ruled 2-1 against the administration.
In an unusual move, the Supreme Court rejected the emergency request without first asking California to respond. No public dissents were noted.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Friday, the federal appeals court panel wrote that the Trump administration was arguing it should be allowed to dictate how California can conduct its elections. This, the panel said, risked “undermining the Constitution’s plain text.”
“If the United States believes different procedures are necessary for vote-by-mail ballots, we believe it should take that suggestion to Congress, not the courts,” the panel said.
Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, sided with Judge Gabriel Sanchez, a Biden appointee. The third judge, Trump appointee Patrick Bumatay, dissented.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta praised the decision.
“California law makes it illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and there are several state laws that guard against it. That is why it is exceptionally rare,” he said in a statement. “The administration’s baseless claims of widespread fraud are an attempt to sow doubt in our democratic process and risk disenfranchising eligible voters. We will keep fighting to uphold the rule of law.”
The appeals court’s ruling came two days after the Trump administration lost its case in a California district court.
In a 26-page ruling, U.S. District Judge David Carter also condemned the federal government’s attempted intrusion in state and local matters.
“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 election procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch,” the Clinton appointee wrote. “In bringing this lawsuit, the Executive would have this Court believe that it reigns as a sole sovereign. But California and its people are sovereign, too.”
As for the Trump administration’s claim that more than 20,000 people identified as “likely noncitizens” were registered to vote in California—and that ballots cast by those individuals should be set aside—state election officials have rejected the allegations.
Also on Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced charges against six foreign nationals accused of illegally voting in the 2024 presidential election. Last month, prosecutors charged 28 foreign nationals with election-related crimes.
At a news conference, prosecutor Bill Essayli claimed that all 34 defendants were among the more than 20,000 people the administration had identified as likely noncitizens on California’s voter rolls.
