20,000 ballots at stake as DOJ seeks Supreme Court review in California vote dispute

The Department of Justice is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a legal dispute with California over voter eligibility, a move that places 20,000 ballots at risk of being held before Election Day.

The filing marks the latest escalation in a conflict that began when the DOJ identified 20,000 individuals on the state voter roll whom it classifies as likely noncitizens. The department wants the high court to order California to set those ballots aside until citizenship is verified. A federal judge in San Francisco, David Carter, recently described the department’s actions as a broad, ongoing pattern of attempted election interference by federal officials.

The legal battle intensified over the past week after a divided Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected the DOJ’s request to stop processing those ballots. Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez wrote that granting the federal government’s relief carries a material risk of disenfranchisement and could jeopardize the entire election in Los Angeles County. They cited the Purcell principle, which discourages changing election rules on the eve of a vote, and the National Voter Registration Act, which limits how states remove voters near federal elections. Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented from that decision.

Lower courts have generally sided with California and Los Angeles County, arguing that the federal list is unreliable and that creating a new system to segregate ballots while voting is underway is infeasible. County officials noted that the actual number of disputed ballots is likely much lower than 20,000 because many names on the DOJ list did not have active registrations or receive mail ballots.

Independent analysis supports the state’s position. Data scientists from the University of California Los Angeles Voting Rights Project were granted court access to the DOJ’s list and found that 42% of the names do not appear on California’s current voter roll. Their review also identified naturalized citizens on the list.

The DOJ’s push for Supreme Court review follows a series of aggressive actions against California election officials. In recent weeks, the department sent subpoenas to officials and warned them of potential criminal prosecution for allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order late Friday, barring the administration from threatening or coercing officials to stop processing these ballots. The government has already appealed that order.

The Supreme Court has not yet indicated whether it will take up the case or rule before Tuesday’s election. The DOJ’s notice filed Monday formally requests injunctive relief from the high court to resolve the conflict before votes are tallied.