Justice department had ordered state to segregate and not count 20,000 ballots from people it claims are non-citizens

The supreme court on Monday ruled against the Trump administration and its attempts to force California election officials to segregate and not count ballots from people that the justice department claims are non-citizens. The ruling follows several lower courts siding with California officials, who argued the federal government was seeking to interfere in state elections.

California and the Trump administration have been in a legal standoff over the past few weeks following the justice department’s claim that 20,000 non-citizens were on the state’s voter rolls. The DoJ delivered a USB drive to Los Angeles and Sacramento election officials in mid-October with the names, giving only 48 hours for officials to review the list and threatening to sue if the ballots were not sequestered until those listed could verify their citizenship. Election officials refused, leading to a series of courtroom battles.

The justice department’s claims faced immediate pushback from state officials and voting rights groups, who questioned how the agency compiled the list and accused the Trump administration of a ploy to cast doubt over midterm elections. The justice department refused to provide details on its methodology and analysis from election officials found numerous suggestions the list contained inaccuracies.