The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by President Donald Trump's administration to set aside thousands of mail ballots in California from voters it flagged as potentially noncitizens, as the country prepared for pivotal midterm elections to determine control of Congress.
The court declined to intervene in a case involving approximately 20,000 people on the largely Democratic state's voter rolls whom the Republican administration identified as likely noncitizens. The administration had asked the court to segregate their ballots until their citizenship status could be verified.
California officials argued that the list contained significant errors and that setting aside the ballots could disenfranchise eligible voters. The Supreme Court did not provide a detailed explanation for its decision, as is common in emergency rulings.
The ruling came amid a series of election-related legal disputes on the eve of Tuesday's midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress for the final two years of Trump's second term.
The court had previously rejected Trump's effort to restrict mail ballots nationwide in September, even as it sided with his administration in several other emergency appeals.
The Trump administration has prioritised identifying noncitizen voters this year, despite such cases being rare. A district court judge had earlier rejected the Justice Department's request to segregate the California ballots, warning that the move could disenfranchise citizens.
Another federal judge in Washington ruled against the administration's last-minute demands of California election officials on Monday, finding that they violated the Constitution.
“The Executive Branch has likely violated the Constitution's Elections Clause, which commits authority over election rules to the states and Congress alone,” Chief Judge James Boasberg wrote.
The administration maintained that separating the ballots was a modest request that would allow valid votes to be counted after citizenship verification.
However, the legal challenge has faced a series of setbacks in court, with judges questioning the reliability of the Justice Department's data and the timing of its demands, made only weeks before the election.
During a hearing on whether to lift an order barring the administration from threatening to prosecute election workers who allowed potentially ineligible voters to cast ballots, District Court Judge Trina Thompson questioned the accuracy of the data.
“Would you agree there's a high error rate?” Thompson asked Justice Department attorney Kenneth Kao.
“That's a fair statement,” Kao replied, adding that the department had sought help from local registrars to verify the voters' eligibility.
At the same time, Bill Essayli, the federal prosecutor overseeing the Justice Department's Los Angeles office, said he was highly confident that those on the list were not entitled to vote.
“This isn't speculation. This isn't a theory,” Essayli said at a news conference, while later acknowledging that the list could contain errors.
Voting in California has been underway since early October. The state mails ballots to all of its roughly 23 million registered voters, and hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been processed. Election officials said it would be logistically impossible to identify and set aside the challenged ballots at this stage.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, criticised the appeal, saying it “reeks of desperation and is another attempt to undermine our elections and trample on the rule of law.”
Lower courts had also warned of the potential consequences of the administration's demand. US District Judge David O. Carter said segregating ballots could “wreak havoc” on the midterm elections and undermine public trust in the democratic process.
“If the Executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger,” Carter wrote.
A 2-1 appeals court panel upheld his order, with judges appointed by Trump and former President Joe Biden voting in favour. A third judge, also appointed by Trump, dissented, arguing that California's refusal to separate the ballots encouraged the “violation of federal law.”
The Justice Department had unsuccessfully sought to accelerate the case by asking an appeals court to intervene early.
On the final day of campaigning ahead of the midterm elections, the White House released a list of 127 promises it said Trump had fulfilled during his second term, highlighting his administration's record on trade, immigration, the economy, energy, national security and foreign policy.
The document, titled “President Trump's Second Term: Promises Made, Promises Kept, Results Delivered”, was released on Monday. It presented the administration's assessment of Trump's achievements, including claims that he had secured improved trade agreements with major partners and helped achieve peace in eight conflicts.
On trade, the White House said Trump had secured “new and improved trade agreements” with major US partners, including India, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia.
The administration said the countries covered by the agreements accounted for more than half of global GDP, adding that Trump had used tariffs as leverage to secure better terms for American workers, farmers and manufacturers.
However, the US and India had announced only a framework for an interim trade agreement in February. A joint statement issued by India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry said the two countries had reached an understanding on reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade.
“The United States of America (United States) and India are pleased to announce that they have reached a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade (Interim Agreement),” the statement said.
It added that both countries would promptly implement the framework and work towards finalising the interim agreement, with the broader objective of concluding a bilateral trade agreement.
The February announcement was therefore a framework, with both sides stating that negotiations would continue towards finalising the interim agreement and a broader bilateral trade agreement.
India also featured in the White House document's foreign policy section, which credited Trump with achieving peace in eight conflicts.
The administration listed India and Pakistan, Israel and Iran, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Israel and Hamas.
The document presented the administration's claims about Trump's foreign policy record as part of its broader account of promises fulfilled during his second term.
The midterm elections on Tuesday will determine control of both chambers of Congress, with all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 Senate seats up for election.
(With agency inputs from ANI and AP via PTI