The US Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration's request to halt California's counting of disputed ballots ahead of the midterm elections. The Justice Department had asked the Court to set aside approximately 20,000 ballots it alleged were issued to non-US citizens.
The Supreme Court issued a one-line order on Monday denying the request for an injunction. Two lower courts had already rejected the same request. A federal appeals court declined the government's bid on Friday.
California election officials questioned the accuracy of the government's claims. They said the list of names provided by the administration contained inaccuracies and that segregating ballots during voting was unfeasible. They expressed concern that eligible voters could be disenfranchised.
The Justice Department had sent letters to the California secretary of state and Los Angeles County Registrar last month demanding the ballots be set aside. About a week later, armed officials from the Department of Homeland Security delivered letters to county officials threatening criminal charges if they did not sequester the ballots.
In a 22-page brief, the Justice Department maintained that ballots cast by non-citizens could "debase or dilute valid votes."
District Judge David Carter described the government's move as part of an "ongoing pattern of attempted election interference" and noted that "never before in American history has the federal government, on the eve of an election, sought to coerce a state and local government to abandon their own constitutional elections procedures and bend to the will of the executive branch."
California has approximately 23 million people on its voting register. As of Sunday night, more than six million mail-in ballots had been received, according to the California secretary of state's office.