Justice Department asks Supreme Court to pause California ballots

The Department of Justice has identified 20,000 individuals on California’s voter roll whom it describes as likely noncitizens. The department filed a notice on Monday seeking an emergency order from the U.S. Supreme Court to stop those ballots from being counted until citizenship is verified. This request comes exactly one day before Election Day.

Federal and state courts have previously rejected the department’s efforts to intervene in California’s election administration. A federal judge in San Francisco called the department’s actions a broad, ongoing pattern of attempted election interference. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals also denied the request for injunctive relief on Friday. That decision was made by a divided panel of three judges.

Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez wrote that there is a material risk that granting the federal government’s request would result in disenfranchisement. They noted that creating a new system to segregate ballots while voting is already underway is infeasible. The majority opinion cited the Purcell principle, which advises against changing election rules on the eve of a vote. They also pointed to the National Voter Registration Act, which prevents states from systematically removing ineligible voters within 90 days of a federal election.

Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented from the majority decision. The department argues that its list is reliable and necessary to ensure only eligible voters are counted. State officials and Los Angeles County election workers maintain that the federal list is flawed. They argue that many people on the list do not have active registrations and were not mailed ballots.

Data scientists from the University of California Los Angeles Voting Rights Project analyzed the department’s list following a court order in a separate lawsuit. Their analysis found that 42% of the names on the list do not appear on California’s current voter roll. The group also identified naturalized citizens included in the federal list of likely noncitizens.

The conflict has escalated over recent weeks. The Justice Department sent subpoenas to California election officials and warned them of potential criminal prosecution for allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order late Friday. This order bars the administration from threatening or coercing officials to stop processing ballots from registered voters. The federal government has appealed that order.

The actual number of ballots in dispute is likely lower than 20,000. County officials noted that many individuals on the federal list were not active voters. The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to take up the case or issue a ruling before Tuesday’s election.