Trump asks Supreme Court to sideline 20,000 California mail ballots

Washington — President Donald Trump's administration filed an urgent appeal to the Supreme Court on Monday in an attempt to exclude thousands of questionable California mail-in ballots from being counted just before the critical midterms. The request emerged after an appeals court declined to set aside approximately 20,000 ballots of individuals the federal government has doubts about their citizenship.

The government maintains that these ballots should not be included in the tally until the voters' citizenship can be confirmed. However, California officials argue that the list is unreliable and probably comprises many U.S. citizens. The Republican-led Trump administration has made it a priority to identify noncitizen voters this year, despite their rarity.

A district court judge firmly rejected the Justice Department's petition and cautioned that the demand could disenfranchise citizens in the November 3 midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. The Justice Department sought a "limited injunction" from the high court, requesting California to "halt mixing suspected illegal ballots with legal ones" while the legal battle continues.