DOJ Seeks Supreme Court Intervention in California Ballot Dispute

The federal government is currently engaged in a legal standoff with California over the administration of the state's election, a conflict that has escalated to the highest court in the land just before the polls close. On Monday, the Department of Justice filed a notice seeking injunctive relief from the U.S. Supreme Court. The department is asking the justices to order California to set aside and stop processing the ballots of thousands of registered voters while their citizenship status is verified. This move follows a series of lower court decisions that have largely favored state and county officials.

The Justice Department claims to have identified 20,000 likely noncitizens on the California voter roll. According to the federal position, these individuals' ballots should not be counted until their citizenship is confirmed. However, state officials and Los Angeles County argue that the federal list is unreliable. They contend that creating a new system to segregate these specific ballots is infeasible given that voting is already underway. The actual number of ballots in dispute may be significantly lower than the federal estimate, as many names on the DOJ list do not correspond to active registrations or mailed ballots.

A divided Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected the Justice Department's emergency request on Friday. Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez wrote that there is a material risk that granting the requested relief would result in disenfranchisement and jeopardize the county's entire election. They cited the Purcell principle, a legal standard that discourages changing election rules on the eve of an election. The panel also noted that the Constitution grants states authority to run their own elections. Additionally, they pointed to the National Voter Registration Act, which bars states from systematically removing ineligible voters within 90 days of a federal election.

Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented from the panel's decision. The legal battle has intensified in recent weeks, with the Department of Justice sending subpoenas to California election officials. Federal officials have also reminded state staff that they face potential criminal prosecution for allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots. In response, a federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order late Friday. That order bars the Trump administration from threatening, intimidating, or coercing election officials to demand they stop processing ballots for registered voters. The federal government has appealed this restraining order.

Data scientists at the University of California Los Angeles' Voting Rights Project were granted access to the DOJ list through a court order in a separate lawsuit over the weekend. Their analysis found that 42% of the names on the federal list do not appear on California's current voter roll. The researchers also identified naturalized citizens included in the DOJ's list of likely noncitizens. The Supreme Court has not yet indicated whether it will agree to intervene or if it would weigh in before Tuesday's Election Day.