High Court Leaves California Ballots Alone

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in the dispute over California voter rolls on Monday evening. The denial came just hours before Election Day, effectively ending the Department of Justice's bid to halt the processing of specific ballots.

The Justice Department argued that 20,000 individuals on the state’s voter roll are likely noncitizens. It sought an emergency order to set aside those ballots until citizenship was verified. County officials counter that the actual number of active registrations in question is much smaller, as many names on the federal list did not receive mailed ballots.

Data scientists from the University of California Los Angeles’ Voting Rights Project reviewed the DOJ list over the weekend. They found that 42% of the names did not appear on California’s current voter roll. The analysis also identified naturalized citizens on the list, a group the federal government does not consider ineligible.

Federal Judge David Carter, a Clinton appointee, previously described the federal action as a broad pattern of attempted election interference. A divided Ninth Circuit panel then rejected the DOJ's emergency request on Friday. Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez noted that creating a new system to segregate ballots while voting is underway is infeasible.

The majority opinion cited the Purcell principle, which advises against changing election rules on the eve of a vote. It also referenced the National Voter Registration Act, which prevents states from systematically removing ineligible voters within 90 days of a federal election. Judge Patrick Bumatay, a Trump appointee, dissented from the decision.

The legal standoff occurs against a backdrop of heightened tension. The Department of Justice has recently sent subpoenas to California election officials and warned of criminal prosecution for allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots. A federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order late Friday to stop the administration from coercing officials. The government has appealed that order.

The Supreme Court’s refusal to take up the case leaves the lower court rulings in place. California and Los Angeles County will continue processing the disputed ballots under the existing state rules.