Trump asks Supreme Court to segregate California ballots

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(The Center Square) - The Trump administration on Monday asked justices on the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene as it seeks to segregate mail-in ballots in California over fears of noncitizens voting. 

The U.S. Department of Justice asked justices on the high court to temporarily block an order from a lower court judge preventing nearly 20,000 individual ballots from being segregated. The appeal to the high court comes one day before the 2026 midterm elections, where stakes are high as legal battles surmount across the country. 

Solicitor General John Sauer said the measure was a necessary step to ensure the integrity of federal elections across California. The state sends mail-in ballots to every registered voter leading up to an election. 

"Once California commingles the challenged ballots with lawful ones, there is no way to get the challenged ballots back," Sauer wrote in a filing. "The only way to preserve the district court's ability to grant relief to the United States after a full merits proceeding, therefore, is to segregate the challenged ballots now."

On Oct. 13, the Justice Department warned the California Secretary of State's office about 20,000 "highly likely" noncitizen voters. Election officials in California said the effort would create confusion for voters and sow distrust in the system. 

Kiersten Pels, a spokesperson with the Justice Department, told The Center Square 28 people on that list were charged with federal crimes, including lying about their citizenship to vote. 

“What undermines confidence is noncitizens voting,” said Pels. “Eligible citizens are not affected. We asked counties to set aside these ballots, not cancel them, until citizenship is confirmed.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has repeatedly dismissed claims of noncitizen voting in the state's elections. 

"Their is no widespread voter fraud. The federal government has no right to interfere in California's elections," Bonta wrote on social media Saturday. 

On Oct. 28, U.S. District Judge David Carter ruled against the Trump administration's request to segregate ballots. 

"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," Carter, a Clinton appointee, wrote in his ruling. "In bringing this lawsuit, the Executive would have this Court believe that it reigns as a sole sovereign. But California and its people are sovereign, too."

Justices on the high court could act on the Trump administration's request at any time, but there is no deadline to respond.