On the eve of the U.S. midterm elections, the Supreme Court quickly rejected an application filed by President Trump’s administration on Monday. The application sought a temporary ban on mailing ballots in California to over 20,000 registered voters, with federal officials claiming that these voters were likely not American citizens.
According to a report by Reuters on November 2nd, a U.S. Supreme Court judge rejected an emergency application filed with the Justice Department just hours later, denying the claims made by the Trump administration regarding disputed ballots. This dispute could have affected thousands of voters and created uncertainty around the election results.
This ruling means that Trump has suffered another defeat. Currently, the Republicans are trying to retain control of Congress in the midterm elections on Tuesday. California is the state with the largest population in the United States and a traditional stronghold for Democrats.
As midterm elections approach, the Trump administration has increased its focus on the issue of so-called non-citizens voting. However, research and state audits show that participation by those who are not eligible to vote, including non-US citizens, is very rare.
The ruling issued by the Supreme Court on Monday was very brief, containing only one sentence, without any explanation of the reasons behind the decision. This is a common practice of the court when dealing with urgent matters. No Justice expressed any objection publicly. The Supreme Court also did not request California to respond to the applications filed by the Trump administration. Usually, when a court demands a response from the other party, it indicates that the court is seriously considering accepting the urgent application.
California Governor and Democrat Gavin Newsom said that given the federal government’s "disgusting and dangerous attacks" on the American democratic system, this ruling is "a pleasing outcome for all Americans".
Newson added, “Tomorrow (Tuesday), California citizens can rest assured that our state will hold a free and fair election—just as we have always done.”
Last Friday, a federal appeals court rejected this request from the Trump administration.
The Trump administration previously required California to separate all votes suspected of being illegal from other votes, and to not include these votes in the voting results until it was confirmed that the relevant voters were American citizens.
The Department of Justice stated in its application to the Supreme Court: “Once California mixes the disputed ballots with legal ballots, it will no longer be possible to separate these disputed ballots individually.”
Trump has repeatedly claimed that there was widespread electoral fraud in the United States, including in his own presidential election defeat to Democrat Biden in 2020.
"We will continue to seek all legal avenues to uphold the fairness of elections, and ensure that federal law is enforced."
