White House Seeks Supreme Court Order to Pause Counting of 20,000 California Ballots

The White House filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court on Monday, seeking to pause the counting of approximately 20,000 mailed ballots in California. The filing lands one day before midterm elections in which control of Congress is at stake. The administration argues that the specific ballots should be segregated until the citizenship status of the voters can be confirmed.

Federal officials maintain that the list of disputed voters contains individuals who may not be citizens. They contend that counting these ballots before verification violates federal law. California election officials disagree, stating that the government’s list is unreliable and likely includes many valid U.S. citizens. The state notes that voting began in early October for its roughly 23 million registered voters.

Justice Department attorneys requested a limited injunction from the high court. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the ballots cannot be recovered if they are mixed with the rest of the votes. Sauer wrote that once the challenged ballots are commingled with lawful ones, there is no way to get the challenged ballots back. The request follows a series of lower court rejections of the federal government’s bid to stop the counting process.

A federal district judge in California initially denied the Justice Department’s request. Judge David O. Carter, a nominee of former President Bill Clinton, warned that the demand could disenfranchise citizens. Carter stated that if the executive branch can discount votes based on unproven allegations, the democratic process is in danger. He noted that separating the ballots would wreak havoc on the ongoing election.

A three-judge appeals court panel upheld the district court’s order in a 2-1 decision. Two judges, one appointed by President Donald Trump and one by President Joe Biden, voted to keep the ballots in the count. The third judge, also a Trump appointee, dissented. That judge argued that California’s refusal to separate the ballots encourages the violation of federal law.

California officials say it is logistically impossible to find and set aside the disputed ballots at this stage. Hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been processed by state workers. The Supreme Court has previously rejected a similar push by the Trump administration to restrict mail ballots ahead of these midterms. The court has granted emergency appeals to the administration on other matters during this term, but this filing marks a direct challenge to the current counting process in a key swing state.

The legal battle centers on the definition of a qualified voter under federal law. The administration prioritized identifying noncitizen voters this year, despite their rarity in the electorate. The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the merits of the case. The filing seeks immediate relief to prevent an alleged irreparable harm to the federal interest in ensuring only citizens vote.