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Supreme Court Rejects Trump DOJ's Bid to Block California Ballots

1:42 PM ETConfirmedShare on

Politics Desk

In Short: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the Trump administration's request to block California from counting ballots from 20,000 voters suspected of being noncitizens, a decision that could impact the midterm elections.

In a 2-1 decision, the court ruled that the Trump administration's attempt to interfere with the state's election process was unconstitutional.

The Trump administration had sued California on October 15, demanding that state officials review and set aside ballots from individuals suspected of being noncitizens until their citizenship status was confirmed.

A federal judge earlier this week had also rejected the DOJ's bid to block the state from counting the ballots, warning the administration to cease threats against election workers.

California officials had rebuffed the DOJ's demand, questioning the reliability of the federal government's data given its poor track record in proving allegations of noncitizen voter fraud.

The court's decision cited the Constitution's Elections Clause, stating that the federal government cannot interfere with a state's rules and procedures for conducting elections.

Justice Kagan added, 'As the district court found—and we discern no clear error—there is no feasible way to identify and segregate the ballots of specific individuals without potentially catastrophic effects on the entire system.'

The Trump administration had argued that if California received these suspect ballots and mixed them with legitimate ballots, potentially illegal votes would be counted, diluting the vote of eligible citizens.

The Supreme Court's decision marks the third straight loss for the administration in its efforts to block ballots from alleged noncitizen voters.

Background

What's confirmed

• “As the district court found—and we discern no clear error—there is no feasible way to identify and segregate the ballots of specific individuals without potentially catastrophic effects on the entire system,” they said.
• Friday’s 2-1 decision marks the third straight loss for the administration in its efforts to block ballots from alleged noncitizen voters, a legal battle that is expected to make its way to the Supreme Court with just three days left until Election Day with the balance of power in Congress at stake.

What's still developing

• Bumatay said DOJ had proposed “a modest remedy” to the prospect that noncitizens might vote illegally.
• The Supreme Court may soon see another clash between the original public meaning of the Constitution and President Donald Trump’s wishes.
• U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz for the Southern District of Florida, a Biden appointee, on Thursday threw out a federal charge of illegal voting against Chelsea Michelle Ann Cox, a Jamaican national who allegedly cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election, Reuters reported.
• Khalil’s lawyers asked the justices to take up his case after the Philadelphia-based 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal immigration law barred a lower-court judge from ordering his release from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
• The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear a blockbuster challenge to ICE's mandatory detention policy after the Trump administration asked the justices to review the case.
• The case before the Supreme Court centers on Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, a Brazilian citizen who entered the United States without inspection more than two decades ago, applied for asylum in 2016 and was granted work authorization while his application was pending.
• “Huge victory for election integrity. The Supreme Court granted [the Justice Department]’s stay in revamping the SAVE citizenship verification database, which will allow states to clear the voter rolls of illegal voters,” he said.
• Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder Voting by mail remains a reliable form of voting in Georgia after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked an effort to restrict the practice over unfounded fears of widespread noncitizen voting.
• The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will weigh in on the prolonged detention of some noncitizens and whether they’re entitled to a bond hearing. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom) The Supreme Court agreed Monday to weigh in on the issue of whether some immigrants with criminal records can be detained indefinitely.
• Some immigrants face indefinite detention, likely leading to Supreme Court case An appeals court ruling in the case found that an “unreasonably prolonged” detention requires a bond hearing in which the government must show “clear and convincing evidence” that the immigrant would be a flight risk or a danger to the community if released.
• Some appeals courts have upheld the Trump administration detention policy, while others have declared it unconstitutional.
• In Denton County, SAVE identified 84 supposed noncitizens registered to vote.

Sources

• Democracy Docketlink
• Scotusbloglink
• The Independentlink
• Abc45link
• Timesofisraellink
• Fox Newslink
• Dailywirelink
• Georgiarecorderlink
• Statelinelink
• Motherjoneslink
• Washingtonexaminerlink
• The-Independentlink
• Kstplink
• WarpBeat — background on The Trump Administration Gets an Early Start on Interfering in the Midterms link
• ABC10 — video link