Justice Dept Seeks Supreme Court Help Before Vote

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a notice Monday requesting the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a dispute with California over voter eligibility. This move comes one day before Tuesday's Election Day. The department seeks an immediate order to stop the counting of ballots from 20,000 individuals it identifies as likely noncitizens.

The conflict began when the Justice Department asked a federal court to force California to segregate these specific ballots. Judge David Carter, who was appointed by President Clinton, rejected that request last week. He described the federal action as part of a broad, ongoing pattern of attempted election interference. A divided panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld that decision on Friday.

In the Friday ruling, Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez warned that changing rules so close to the vote created a material risk of disenfranchisement. They cited the Purcell principle, a legal standard that discourages altering election procedures on the eve of an election. The panel also noted that the Constitution grants states primary authority to administer their own elections. Judge Patrick Bumatay wrote a dissenting opinion in support of the federal position.

State officials and Los Angeles County argued that the federal list of potential noncitizens was unreliable. They contended that building a new system to separate ballots while voting was already underway was infeasible. Courts have sided with California in these lower-level challenges, rejecting the emergency requests from the Justice Department.

New data suggests the number of disputed ballots may be lower than the federal figure. University of California, Los Angeles, data scientists accessed the Justice Department's list over the weekend through a court order. Their analysis found that 42% of the names on the list did not appear on California's current voter roll. The group also identified naturalized citizens among those flagged by the federal government.

The Supreme Court appeal is the latest step in an escalating dispute between Washington and Sacramento. In recent weeks, the Justice Department has subpoenaed California election officials and warned of criminal prosecution for allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots. A federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order late Friday to stop the administration from threatening or coercing those officials.

The federal government has also appealed that restraining order. It remains uncertain whether the Supreme Court will grant the request for injunctive relief or if it will issue a decision before Tuesday's election concludes.