Trump administration asks Supreme Court to set aside 20,000 California ballots

The Trump administration made an emergency plea to the Supreme Court on Monday, November 2, asking justices to force California to set aside roughly 20,000 mail-in ballots. The New York Post, CNBC, and Fox News reported that the Department of Justice requested the court block California from counting or commingling the disputed mail-in ballots, which the administration claims were sent to noncitizens. [1][4][7]

The emergency petition to the Supreme Court came three days after the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a department bid to overturn a federal district court ruling, CNBC reported. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in the filing that once California commingles the challenged ballots with lawful ones, there will be no way to retrieve them, according to the New York Post. [1][4]

As FTMQ News reported earlier, a federal appeals court rejected the initial request by the Justice Department to force California to set aside the 20,000 mail-in ballots ahead of the midterm elections following an emergency Zoom hearing. President Donald Trump subsequently pledged to continue the legal fight over election integrity in the state. [14][15]

The Supreme Court of the United States serves as the highest court in the federal judiciary, holding ultimate appellate jurisdiction over federal court cases. CNBC reported that the Department of Justice request in the California matter comes alongside an appeal of a dismissed lawsuit concerning an Alaska Senate election. [4][11]