Supreme Court Keeps California Ballot Protections in Place Before Midterms

WHO:

Deadline - The Trump administration and the Justice Department sought emergency intervention from the Supreme Court.

Fox News Politics - The Supreme Court considered the Trump administration’s request.

BBC News - The Trump administration sought to disqualify disputed California ballots.

WHAT:

Deadline - The Supreme Court rejected the Justice Department’s request for emergency intervention in an effort to set aside 20,000 California mail-in ballots.

Fox News Politics - The Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s request to segregate more than 20,000 California mail-in ballots flagged for potential noncitizen voting.

BBC News - The Supreme Court rejected Trump’s request to stop California from counting disputed votes, ending the administration’s bid to disqualify the ballots in the state.

Deadline - The article described Trump’s effort as an “11th hour Hail Mary attempt to muddy the midterm waters” in California.

WHERE:

Deadline - The ballots were in California, which the article also called the “Golden State.”

Fox News Politics - The ballots were in California.

BBC News - The disputed votes were in California.

WHEN:

Deadline - The article described the request as an “11th hour” effort.

BBC News - The ruling came on the eve of the midterm elections.

WHY:

Fox News Politics - The ballots were flagged for potential noncitizen voting.

Deadline - The Justice Department sought to have the ballots cast aside “for the time being”; the article said the list contained names that “aren’t” but the text is incomplete.

HOW:

Deadline - The administration sought emergency intervention from the Supreme Court to have the ballots set aside.

Fox News Politics - The administration asked the Supreme Court to segregate the ballots.

BBC News - The ruling left California counting the disputed votes.

(UPDATED November 3, 2026 04:02 UTC)

The Supreme Court rejected President Trump’s request to block disputed California ballots from being counted. The administration sought to set aside mail-in ballots flagged for potential noncitizen voting. California can continue counting the disputed votes.