President Donald Trump’s administration is making an eleventh-hour push to protect the integrity of federal elections in California, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a contentious dispute involving more than 20,000 voter registrations flagged for potential citizenship concerns.
With the midterm elections approaching, the Department of Justice is seeking emergency relief that would require California election officials to keep ballots associated with the disputed registrations separate from the general vote count while the legal battle continues.
The administration argues that federal law is clear: Only American citizens are eligible to vote in elections for president, Congress, and other federal offices. Federal officials say the government must have an opportunity to investigate questionable registrations before potentially ineligible ballots become mixed with legitimate votes.
The emergency application was submitted Monday by Solicitor General D. John Sauer after the administration suffered setbacks in two lower federal courts.
