Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to set aside 20,000 California ballots

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration's emergency request to make California set aside up to 20,000 mail-in ballots that federal officials say may have been cast by noncitizens ¹². The court issued a brief, unsigned order without explanation, and no justice noted a dissent ¹².

The court acted so quickly that it did not ask California for its views first, as it normally does in such cases ¹². The Justice Department had filed the request only hours earlier, after a divided federal appeals court refused to order the ballots segregated ¹².

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Lower courts had already ruled against the administration. U.S. District Judge David Carter last week refused to order the ballots set aside and said the administration's process for identifying the alleged noncitizens was "rife with uncertainty and errors" ². The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said there was no evidence Congress intended the federal law barring noncitizens from voting to override state election laws ¹.

California officials resisted the intervention, noting that state law already bars noncitizens from voting and questioning whether the federal government's information is accurate ¹. The administration had told state and Los Angeles County officials last month that more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens were on the voter rolls and ordered ballots from those people held back until citizenship could be confirmed ². It later sent letters to all 58 counties with lists of alleged noncitizens ². California has more than 23 million registered voters ².

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The state and county officials warned that U.S. citizens could be wrongly stripped of their votes if they complied ². More than 6 million mail ballots have already been returned in California, where voting has been underway since early October ². Once officials verify a mail ballot's signature, the identifying details are discarded before the vote is counted, so it would be impossible to determine retroactively which ballots came from the people on the list ¹.

The administration has also warned California election officials they could face prosecution if they allow noncitizens to vote; a federal judge on Saturday told the Justice Department to stop making such threats ¹. Separately, federal prosecutors asked Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs to set aside ballots from more than 400 people they claimed are not citizens, and Hobbs said the list contained many people who actually are U.S. citizens ².

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President Donald Trump has long claimed, without evidence, that millions of noncitizens vote in U.S. elections; experts say it rarely happens ¹. Confirmed instances are rare, though the Justice Department has brought criminal charges against more than 200 people prosecutors allege voted illegally in past elections ². When the federal government said it had confirmed 185 noncitizens registered in Nevada, the state responded that all of them were citizens ¹.

That matters because the ruling lands the day before a midterm election in which Republicans are fighting to keep the House and Senate ², and it leaves California's count on its existing course. The pattern is one of courts repeatedly declining the administration's late moves on election administration: a judge also threw out the Justice Department's suit Sunday that sought to block Alaska from certifying its Senate results if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola ².

The Record

1. Oct 1, 2026The administration tells state and Los Angeles County officials that more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens are on voter rolls and orders their ballots held back ².
2. Oct 31, 2026A federal judge tells the Justice Department to stop threatening California election officials with prosecution over noncitizen voting ¹.
3. Nov 2, 2026The Supreme Court rejects the administration's emergency request without asking California to respond; no dissents are noted ¹².

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<h2>Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to set aside 20,000 California ballots</h2> <p><em>By The GOP Files Courts Desk. This article first appeared on <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/supreme-court-rejects-trump-bid-to-set-aside-20-000-california-ballots">The GOP Files</a> on Monday, November 2, 2026.</em></p> <p>The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration&#39;s emergency request to make California set aside up to 20,000 mail-in ballots that federal officials say may have been cast by noncitizens . The court issued a brief, unsigned order without explanation, and no justice noted a dissent .</p> <p>The court acted so quickly that it did not ask California for its views first, as it normally does in such cases . The Justice Department had filed the request only hours earlier, after a divided federal appeals court refused to order the ballots segregated .</p> <p>Lower courts had already ruled against the administration. U.S. District Judge David Carter last week refused to order the ballots set aside and said the administration&#39;s process for identifying the alleged noncitizens was &quot;rife with uncertainty and errors&quot; . The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said there was no evidence Congress intended the federal law barring noncitizens from voting to override state election laws .</p> <p>California officials resisted the intervention, noting that state law already bars noncitizens from voting and questioning whether the federal government&#39;s information is accurate . The administration had told state and Los Angeles County officials last month that more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens were on the voter rolls and ordered ballots from those people held back until citizenship could be confirmed . It later sent letters to all 58 counties with lists of alleged noncitizens . California has more than 23 million registered voters .</p> <p>The state and county officials warned that U.S. citizens could be wrongly stripped of their votes if they complied . More than 6 million mail ballots have already been returned in California, where voting has been underway since early October . Once officials verify a mail ballot&#39;s signature, the identifying details are discarded before the vote is counted, so it would be impossible to determine retroactively which ballots came from the people on the list .</p> <p>The administration has also warned California election officials they could face prosecution if they allow noncitizens to vote; a federal judge on Saturday told the Justice Department to stop making such threats . Separately, federal prosecutors asked Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs to set aside ballots from more than 400 people they claimed are not citizens, and Hobbs said the list contained many people who actually are U.S. citizens .</p> <p>President Donald Trump has long claimed, without evidence, that millions of noncitizens vote in U.S. elections; experts say it rarely happens . Confirmed instances are rare, though the Justice Department has brought criminal charges against more than 200 people prosecutors allege voted illegally in past elections . When the federal government said it had confirmed 185 noncitizens registered in Nevada, the state responded that all of them were citizens .</p> <p>That matters because the ruling lands the day before a midterm election in which Republicans are fighting to keep the House and Senate , and it leaves California&#39;s count on its existing course. The pattern is one of courts repeatedly declining the administration&#39;s late moves on election administration: a judge also threw out the Justice Department&#39;s suit Sunday that sought to block Alaska from certifying its Senate results if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses to Democrat Mary Peltola .</p> <p><em>Read the original, with every source linked, at <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/supreme-court-rejects-trump-bid-to-set-aside-20-000-california-ballots">thegopfiles.com</a>. Republished under The GOP Files' <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/republish">free republishing terms</a>.</em></p> <img src="https://thegopfiles.com/api/rp/supreme-court-rejects-trump-bid-to-set-aside-20-000-california-ballots.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border:0;width:1px;height:1px">

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Sources

1. NBC News, “Supreme Court quickly rejects Trump effort to target alleged noncitizen voters in California” (2026-11-02). nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/rejects-trump-effort-targ
2. CBS News, “Supreme Court rejects Trump's request in California mail ballots dispute” (2026-11-02). cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-rejects-trump-california-mail

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