Trump administration asks Supreme Court to block California ballots

The Trump administration filed an emergency request on Monday asking the Supreme Court to stop California counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 voters it says may not be US citizens, one day before the midterm elections.

Why it matters: A ruling before Tuesday's vote would set aside ballots in the largest US state while Republicans fight to keep control of Congress, and California says the list behind the request could include thousands of eligible citizens.

Data as of Al Jazeera report with Reuters copy, read in full in this run, and Deutsche Welle headline corroboration, November 2, 2026. No Supreme Court decision had been reported as of this run. Developing item.

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to stop California counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 voters on a Department of Homeland Security list of suspected noncitizens, until their citizenship is confirmed. The emergency request came one day before the midterm elections, after a federal judge rejected the same request last week and a federal appeals court rejected it on Friday.

California says the list is unreliable, could include thousands of US citizens, and could disenfranchise eligible voters, and state officials say separating the ballots would be nearly impossible because voting has been under way since early October. District Judge David Carter, in rejecting the request last week, raised concerns about the reliability of the data behind the list.

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to block California ballots

Sources