DOJ Seeks Supreme Court Order to Freeze 20,000 California Ballots

The Department of Justice has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause the counting of 20,000 ballots in California. The federal agency claims these voters are likely noncitizens whose citizenship has not been verified. The request was filed Monday, one day before Tuesday’s Election Day.

The conflict began when the Justice Department identified a list of potential noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls. Los Angeles County election officials argued the list was unreliable. They contended that creating a system to segregate these specific ballots during an active election was unfeasible. Lower courts have sided with the state and the county on these points.

A divided panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Justice Department’s emergency request on Friday. Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez wrote that there is a material risk of disenfranchisement if the federal government’s relief is granted. They cited the Purcell principle, which discourages changing election rules close to an election. The panel also noted that the Constitution grants states authority to administer their own elections. The National Voter Registration Act further bars states from systematically removing ineligible voters within 90 days of a federal election.

Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented from the 9th Circuit decision. Earlier, Judge David Carter, a Clinton appointee, described the federal actions as a broad, ongoing pattern of attempted election interference. The Justice Department is now seeking injunctive relief from the Supreme Court to override these lower court rulings.

Data from the University of California Los Angeles’ Voting Rights Project suggests the number of ballots in dispute is smaller than 20,000. Researchers found that 42% of the names on the federal list do not appear on California’s current voter roll. Their analysis also identified naturalized citizens on the list. County officials noted that many individuals on the federal list did not have active registrations or receive mailed ballots.

The legal battle follows a series of aggressive moves by the Justice Department against California election officials. In recent weeks, the agency sent subpoenas and warned officials of potential criminal prosecution for allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots. A federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order late Friday. The order bars the administration from threatening or coercing election officials to stop processing ballots for registered voters. The federal government has appealed that order as well.

The Supreme Court has not yet stated whether it will intervene before Tuesday’s vote. The Justice Department’s notice indicates it is seeking immediate relief to stop the processing of the specific ballots in question until citizenship verification is complete.