President Donald Trump suffered a last-minute legal setback Monday evening after the Supreme Court rejected his administration’s emergency request to separate thousands of California mail-in ballots over concerns about potential noncitizen voting.
The decision came just hours before Tuesday’s midterm elections, denying the Justice Department an emergency order it argued was necessary to protect election integrity.
The administration had sought to require California officials to set aside ballots associated with a federal list of more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens until their eligibility could be verified.
California officials challenged the accuracy of the list, maintaining that it included American citizens legally entitled to vote.
In a brief order, the Supreme Court denied the administration’s request without explanation. No justice publicly dissented.
The ruling followed earlier defeats in federal district court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli warned Monday that even a small number of illegal votes could affect closely contested elections.
“It doesn’t take many illegal votes to corrupt our elections,” Essayli said, according to The Daily Wire.
Essayli also announced additional criminal charges involving six green card holders accused of unlawfully registering or voting in federal elections. He said authorities had charged 34 individuals identified through the federal investigation with election-related offenses.
“Our goal is not to charge all 20,000 people, our goal is to get California to not count the votes of noncitizens,” Essayli said.
The Supreme Court’s decision leaves California’s existing ballot procedures in place for Election Day but does not resolve the underlying dispute over the federal government’s voter list.
The Justice Department has indicated that its criminal investigations will continue despite the ruling.
