Storyline · general · 2 reports from 1 newsroom

Trump DOJ asks Supreme Court over California ballot case

First reported Oct 30, 5:07 PM ET · Latest Nov 2, 12:15 PM ET · Explainer updated Nov 2, 1:02 PM ET

Why it was in the Midday Brief: Reported independently by 2 newsrooms, less than an hour old when it aired, picked for the Top Stories desk.

Where things stand

The Trump administration has petitioned the Supreme Court to require California to separate ballots of more than 20,000 voters the Justice Department suspects are “likely” non‑citizens, after a federal appeals court rejected the administration’s request to set aside those mail ballots. Axios reports the appeal follows the appeals court’s 2–1 decision that left California’s election procedures unchanged just days before the midterms.

Continuum

Facts

Facts appear here as Relay matches them to the reports.

Timeline

What changed: The administration’s latest move is filing a request with the Supreme Court to intervene in the California ballot dispute.

Every report, newest first

  1. Trump administration turns to SCOTUS in California ballot case — Axios

    The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to mandate that California separate ballots of more than 20,000 voters the government suspects are "likely" non-citizens. The big picture: A federal appeals court rejected the administration's bid to set aside…

  2. Trump DOJ loses last-minute California ballot bid — Axios

    A federal appeals court rejected the Justice Department's emergency bid to set aside mail ballots tied to more than 20,000 California voters the Trump administration suspects are noncitizens. Why it matters: The 2–1 ruling leaves California's election…

Questions

  • It remains unclear how the Supreme Court will rule on the request and what effect a decision could have on ballot handling and voter participation in the upcoming midterm elections. Open

We send a confirmation first. At most a few emails a day, never overnight, and one click unsubscribes and deletes your address. For readers 13 and over. Privacy

More: background

The Justice Department has been pursuing claims of voter fraud by seeking to invalidate mail ballots tied to over 20,000 California voters it believes may not be citizens. A federal appeals court denied the DOJ’s emergency bid, citing doubts about the accuracy of the government’s voter list and the risk of disenfranchising eligible voters.

How this works: stories from different newsrooms are grouped by topic, then AI writes the explainer using only those reports. It may miss context the reports don't include.