US Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to block count of 20,000 California ballots

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Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to block count of 20,000 California ballots

On Monday the Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration's attempt to force California to set aside about 20,000 ballots that the Justice Department says come from non-citizens. Lower courts had already sided with California officials, who said the federal government was interfering in state elections. The ruling came a day before Tuesday's midterm elections, after more than 50 million early votes had been cast.

• The Justice Department asked the court on Monday to temporarily stop California from counting mail-in ballots from 20,000 voters it believes are non-citizens; the move has raised fears that federal law enforcement powers are being used in a partisan way.
• On Saturday night a judge barred the administration from threatening election officials who received letters demanding that ballots of possible non-citizen voters be set aside.
• A record number of early votes has been cast, with over 50 million ballots in.
• Three progressive Democrats from New York City are expected to win House seats on Tuesday, according to a report.