The US Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration’s emergency request to set aside approximately 20,000 California ballots ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The decision came on Monday, November 2, after the Justice Department challenged ballots linked to individuals it suspected of being non-US citizens.
The administration had requested that California election officials separate the disputed ballots until authorities could verify the voters’ citizenship status.
However, California officials opposed the move, arguing that the federal government’s list contained significant errors and could include thousands of eligible American citizens.
The Supreme Court declined to intervene, leaving the ballots eligible for counting under existing election procedures. No justice publicly dissented from the decision.
The ruling followed several legal setbacks for the Trump administration in lower courts. Federal judges had previously rejected similar requests, warning that separating the ballots could disenfranchise eligible voters and disrupt the electoral process.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta welcomed the decision, saying the administration’s attempts to interfere with the state’s elections had repeatedly failed.
The dispute emerged just one day before Election Day, when Americans are voting in crucial congressional races that will determine control of the House and Senate.
The Justice Department maintained that it wanted to prevent potentially unlawful votes from affecting election results.
