Supreme Court Rejects Trump Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Ballots Before Election Day

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration's emergency request to force California to set aside about 20,000 ballots that the federal government says were cast by noncitizens, hours before the final day of voting in the midterm elections. The order was a single sentence with no explanation, and there did not appear to be any dissents. The Justice Department sued California late last month to compel the separation of the ballots. Last week, U.S. District Judge David Carter ruled against the administration, writing that the federal government had never before, on the eve of an election, tried to coerce a state and local government to abandon its own constitutional election procedures. Election officials in California and Los Angeles County said the administration's list was unreliable and that many people on it were U.S.-born citizens. The administration acknowledged the list had inaccuracies but still demanded compliance. Voters were to decide control of Congress on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and more than 57 million had already voted early, according to the University of Florida's Election Lab.

The New Republic, the left-leaning outlet covering the story, leads with the ruling as a "huge loss" for Trump in a "voter suppression scheme." It accuses the White House of messing with California's elections and acting like a monarchy. It features Judge Carter's quote about California's sovereignty, the election officials' findings that citizens were on the list, and the administration's admission of errors. Right-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while left-leaning and alternative outlets had. The alternative-side coverage uses plainer language. AP reports the rejection and its timing, and Straight Arrow News lists it as an Election Day setback for the administration within a broader roundup that also covers Trump's closing speech and strikes on Iran.