The Supreme Court of the United States rejected on Monday the Trump administration's request to intervene in the counting of votes in the California elections. The Court published its decision in a one-line order denying the Justice Department's request for an injunction, meaning that the rulings of the lower courts remain in force.
The Justice Department had sought to set aside 20,000 ballots which it claimed may have been issued to individuals who are not US citizens. Two lower courts had previously rejected this request. The Supreme Court did not provide a rationale for its decision, which is common in cases brought on an emergency basis, and no dissenting opinions were recorded among the justices.
California is the most populous US state, with approximately 23 million people on the voter roll. According to data from the California Secretary of State's office, more than six million mail-in ballots had been received by Sunday evening.
Last month, the Justice Department sent letters to the California Secretary of State and the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters requesting that ballots from 20,000 registered voters be set aside, whom the Trump administration, according to court documents, 'believes' are 'likely' non-citizens. Approximately a week later, armed Homeland Security officials delivered letters to officials and employees in counties across California, threatening criminal prosecution if these ballots were not set aside. In a 22-page document reviewed by the BBC, the Justice Department claimed that ballots submitted by non-citizens could 'depress or dilute valid votes'.
On Friday, a federal appeals court rejected the government's request to set aside the ballots. California election officials questioned the federal government's claims, stating that the process used to identify alleged non-citizens was inaccurate. They also expressed concern that qualified voters could be disenfranchised and that setting aside ballots while voting was ongoing was unfeasible.
District Judge David Carter said that the government's move in California was indicative of a 'persistent pattern of attempts at election interference' by the Trump administration. 'Never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to force state and local authorities to abandon their own constitutional election processes and bow to the will of the executive branch,' Carter said. Carter was appointed to the bench by Bill Clinton and had previously rejected the administration's request to set aside ballots in a decision on 28 October.
California and the Trump administration have been in a legal standoff for weeks following the Justice Department's claim that 20,000 non-citizens are on the state's voter roll. In mid-October, the Department provided a USB stick with names to election officials in Los Angeles and Sacramento, giving them only 48 hours to review the list and threatening a lawsuit if the ballots were not set aside while the individuals in question confirmed their citizenship. Officials refused, leading to a series of legal battles. The Justice Department refused to provide details on its methodology, and an analysis by election officials showed numerous indications that the list contained inaccuracies.
Dean Logan, Los Angeles County Clerk and Registrar of Voters, said in a statement after receiving the list: 'The Justice Department has not provided the fundamental evidence, source or methodology that supports its claims that the individuals listed in its records are ineligible to vote.'
Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement: 'After losing multiple times in lower courts, the nation's highest court has decisively rejected the Trump Justice Department's baseless attack on the California election process – it did not even take it up for consideration.' Attorney General Rob Bonta stated: 'This latest decision should put an end to the administration's attempt to disrupt elections in California through emergency court orders. But our work is not done.'
The Justice Department threatened criminal prosecution for California election officials who would count ballots from the list. A federal judge on Friday banned the government from making such threats. The Trump administration boasted of arrests of dozens of non-citizens who were allegedly registered and voted in federal elections. Several of the accused have been legal permanent residents for decades and claim they did not know they did not meet the requirements to vote. Omar Muñoz, one of those arrested, told the Guardian last month: 'It was staged and I am a scapegoat... They wanted to make a scene.'
The Trump administration launched a criminal investigation in California over claims of non-citizen voting and began issuing subpoenas to election officials. The Justice Department filed criminal charges against 28 green card holders in California, accusing them of false registration and illegal voting. A similar request to set aside ballots was sent by the Department to the state of Washington. Trump made vague promises of a one million dollar reward to anyone whose report of election fraud leads to an arrest or conviction.
