DOJ Seeks Supreme Court Help on California Voter Roll Dispute

The Department of Justice identified 20,000 likely noncitizens on California's voter roll on Monday, one day before Election Day. The agency asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a dispute over these voters. This move follows lower court decisions that rejected the federal government's earlier demands.

Judge David Carter, a Clinton appointee, called the department's actions a broad pattern of attempted election interference. A divided Ninth Circuit panel later denied the DOJ's request to stop processing specific ballots. The high court now faces a request for injunctive relief to determine if the federal list is reliable.

State officials argue the DOJ's list is flawed. They contend that creating a new system to segregate ballots while voting is underway is infeasible. Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez agreed, warning that granting the request would risk disenfranchising voters. They cited the Purcell principle, which discourages changing election rules on the eve of an election.

UCLA data scientists analyzed the federal list over the weekend. They found that 42 percent of the names did not appear on California's current voter roll. The analysis also identified naturalized citizens on the list. County election officials noted that many people on the DOJ list did not have active registrations or receive mailed ballots.

The dispute has escalated in recent weeks. The DOJ sent subpoenas to California election officials and reminded them of potential criminal prosecution. A federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order late Friday. The order bars the administration from threatening officials to stop processing ballots from registered voters.

The DOJ has appealed this restraining order. The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to hear the case or issue a ruling before Tuesday's vote. The outcome will determine if the 20,000 ballots remain in the count or are set aside for further review.