Washington, DC: The Trump administration has approached the US Supreme Court seeking to challenge California’s decision to count nearly 20,000 mail-in ballots flagged by the Department of Justice over questions surrounding the voters’ citizenship.
The petition was filed on Monday, three days after the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the government’s attempt to stop a lower court order allowing the ballots to be counted.
The appeal comes just a day before Election Day, with the Supreme Court free to respond at any time.
The Justice Department had filed a lawsuit against California on October 15, asking election officials to withhold ballots from voters suspected of being non-US citizens until their citizenship could be verified.
However, US District Judge David Carter rejected the request last Wednesday, refusing to direct state authorities to set aside the disputed ballots.
In his ruling, Carter stressed that the case concerned every American citizen’s right to participate in free and fair elections. He also criticised the federal government’s attempt to interfere with state election procedures shortly before voting.
Following the rejection, the Justice Department approached the appeals court, which also turned down its request.
