Set aside ballots?

Supreme Court rejects Trump admin bid to force California to set aside ballots

Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s emergency bid to force California officials to segregate ballots from up to 20,000 voters federal officials claim are foreigners illegally on the state’s voting rolls.

No justice noted any dissent from the ruling, which effectively ends the administration’s effort to force the state to alter its election procedures on the eve of the midterms. And it comes after a string of similar rejections delivered by lower courts on related policies.

The Supreme Court offered no explanation for its action, but moved with unusual haste. The justices denied the Trump administration’s emergency appeal just hours after it was filed without taking the typical step of seeking a response from California officials.

“The third branch of government did its job,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and likely 2028 presidential contender, in a statement. “That should be a welcome sight for all Americans given the disgusting and dangerous attacks on our democracy by the federal government.”

State Attorney General Rob Bonta said the decision “should put an end to the Administration’s attempt to disrupt California’s elections through emergency court orders.”

“But our work is not over,” Bonta said in a statement. “We will remain vigilant and keep fighting back against federal efforts to undermine our democracy.”

Lower courts that considered the administration’s demand said it was an attempt to usurp the power the Constitution explicitly gives states to control election practices and appeared to rely on flawed data that could disenfranchise U.S. citizens.

The high court has spent the year largely keeping at bay the Trump administration’s unilateral efforts to alter states’ election procedures. The justices rejected a Trump-backed effort to bar states from counting mail ballots that arrive after Election Day. And they shot down a bid by the administration to empower the Postal Service to withhold mail-in ballots in certain states.