The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a growing legal dispute over California’s handling of mail-in ballots belonging to more than 20,000 registered voters whose citizenship status federal officials have questioned.
The emergency application, submitted Monday, November 2, puts the issue before the nation’s highest court just one day before the midterm elections. At the center of the dispute is whether California election officials should be required to separate ballots submitted by individuals identified on a federal government list and verify their citizenship before including those votes in the final count.
With control of Congress hanging in the balance, the legal battle has become another major test of the federal government’s authority to enforce election laws and the states’ responsibility for administering their own voting procedures.
The Justice Department wants the disputed ballots temporarily held aside while officials determine whether the individuals who submitted them are legally eligible to participate in federal elections.
