Why It Matters
The U.S. Department of Justice asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in California’s election less than 24 hours before Election Day, seeking to separate ballots cast by voters the federal government suspects are not citizens.
What Happened
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed an emergency application Monday asking the court to require California to segregate ballots associated with a list of about 20,000 suspected noncitizen voters. The Department of Homeland Security allegedly identified the names.
The Justice Department sued California in October after state officials questioned the list’s accuracy and declined to act on it. A district court judge and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Trump administration.
The department is now requesting an administrative stay. Sauer argued that once the ballots are mixed with other lawful ballots, separating them would no longer be possible.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta rejected the federal request, saying, “There is no widespread voter fraud. The federal government has no right to interfere in California’s elections.”
By the Numbers
- More than 5 million: Mail ballots already cast in California.
- About 20,000: Names the Department of Homeland Security allegedly identified as suspected noncitizen voters.
- 42%: Share of names that a data analysis found were absent from California’s current voter file.
- At least 22: Names that matched names of U.S. citizens.
- Monday: Day the Justice Department filed its Supreme Court application.
Zoom Out
California conducts elections through universal vote-by-mail, and state and local officials said they had no simple way to quickly identify and isolate the ballots on the federal list.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights raised concerns about the list in a court filing Saturday. The filing came one day after the 9th Circuit issued its decision.
What’s Next
Justice Elena Kagan will be the first justice to review the emergency application. Walter Olsen predicted that the Supreme Court would reject the request.
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