Just before 6 p.m., the Supreme Court denied the Trump administration’s emergency request to stop California from counting ballots cast by people it contends are more than 20,000 noncitizens registered to vote. SCOTUSblog reported that the administration made its request Monday morning and that the court disposed of it in a brief, unsigned order. [E1] [E2]
Justice Department officials had sought the court’s intervention in California’s midterm vote count, the BBC reported. The department wanted the ballots set aside, alleging that they may have been issued to non-U.S. citizens. The Guardian reported that the requested order would have required California election officials to segregate and not count those ballots. [E4] [E5] [E8]
The one-line order denied the application for an injunction pending appeal after it was presented to Justice Kagan and referred to the full court. The application sought relief while the appeal was pending. The court announced the denial of the requested injunction, and there were no noted dissents. [E3] [E6] [E7] [E10] The denial leaves California election officials without the requested order to segregate and stop counting the ballots. The court gave no explanation, as is customary in emergency cases. [E9]