Supreme Court rejects Trump request to set aside California ballots

The United States Supreme Court has declined to intervene on behalf of President Donald Trump’s administration in its bid to force California not to count the ballots of more than 20,000 voters it claims are not citizens. President Donald Trump's administration appealed to the Supreme Court on Monday in its push to sideline thousands of disputed California mail ballots the day before the pivotal midterm elections. The emergency appeal came after a divided appeals court rejected the request to set aside ballots from some 20,000 people the federal government suspects may not be citizens. It also came just hours before another federal judge ruled against the administration's efforts to make last-minute changes in California's election.
The federal government says those ballots should not be counted until the voters' status can be verified. California officials say the list is highly unreliable and likely includes many people who are U.S. citizens. The Trump administration has prioritized identifying noncitizen voters this year, despite them being rare. A district court judge previously denied the Justice Department's request and warned that the demand could disenfranchise citizens in Tuesday's midterm elections to determine control of Congress.
Chief Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to stop making its demands, finding they violated the U.S. Constitution. "The Executive Branch has likely violated the Constitution's Elections Clause, which commits authority over election rules to the states and Congress alone," wrote Boasberg.
President Donald Trump has tried to boost the federal government’s role in elections and has alleged without evidence that noncitizens are influencing outcomes by illegally voting. California said it already has safeguards to protect election integrity and the process the administration used to create its list of questionable voters is "highly suspect.”