Trump asks Supreme Court to block 20,000 California ballots before midterms 

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to stop California from counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 voters it claims are not US citizens.

The emergency request, filed on Monday, just one day before the midterm elections, is the latest development in a legal battle between the administration and California, a Democratic stronghold and the most populous US state.

California says the move could disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters.

The Department of Justice wants the Supreme Court to step in immediately and force California to set aside ballots from voters on a list compiled by the Department of Homeland Security until after their citizenship status can be verified.

The department argues once the ballots are mixed in with others, there would be no way to identify them and remove them if the voters were later found to be ineligible.

But California says the list is unreliable and could include thousands of US citizens.

Voting has been under way since early October, with ballots mailed to around 23 million registered voters and hundreds of thousands already processed. State officials say it would be nearly impossible to separate the ballots in question.

Last week, a federal judge rejected the administration’s request, raising concerns about the reliability of the data on the list.

“If the executive can discount votes and threaten an ongoing election due to unproven allegations, then our democracy is in danger,” Judge David Carter wrote.

The administration has turned to the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court also rejected the request on Friday.

It is not clear when the Supreme Court, which rejected an earlier effort to restrict mail-in voting in September, will rule. The case will be handled by Justice Elena Kagan, who hasn’t set a deadline yet for California to respond.

The dispute comes as Republicans fight to retain control of Congress in Tuesday’s elections.

Trump has repeatedly made false claims about widespread voter fraud, but studies and state audits have shown that ineligible voting, including by noncitizens, is rare.