Supreme Court blocks Trump bid to discard California ballots ahead of Tuesday vote
Election Day arrives with record early turnout and lingering legal disputes over federal interference in state-run voting processes.
By Luka Evans ·
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s effort to force California to set aside thousands of ballots on Monday night.
The ruling occurred just hours before the start of voting for the 2026 midterm elections. The administration had argued that noncitizen voters cast those ballots during a recent enforcement sweep. The decision marks a second major legal loss for the White House in recent months. A similar order from August that sought to restrict mail-in voting through the Postal Service was also denied by the court.
President Donald Trump has spent the past year attempting to influence state election procedures. His Justice and Homeland Security departments conducted a large-scale operation to identify noncitizen voters. That effort included a predawn raid in California that resulted in more than two dozen arrests. The administration also planned its largest-ever monitoring operation for Election Day polling places. Democrats and allied groups organized a counter-effort to observe the polls. The administration sued to block certification of Alaska’s Senate results if Democrats won that race.
Voting rights advocates and election officials had braced for potential disruptions. They feared immigration agents might appear at polling sites or that federal officers could seize voting machines. The administration stated that no armed federal officials would guard the polls. In practice, few of the anticipated problems materialized. Courts largely blocked the administration’s legal maneuvers. The administration’s own arrest records indicate that noncitizens casting ballots is a rare occurrence, a finding that aligns with years of state investigations and research.
Election law experts noted that the administration’s lawsuits pushed beyond historical norms. They argued that the legal positions were unlikely to succeed in court. Trump himself has expressed uncertainty about the validity of the results. When asked a week ago if he would accept the outcome, he replied, “I will if they are honest.”
Polling places in Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday. Heavy rains and flash flooding across the Southwest may impede access to voting sites in parts of Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Officials advised voters with late absentee ballots to use drop boxes or deliver them in person. This guidance followed concerns that recent changes in Postal Service operations could cause postmark delays. Such delays already prevented tens of thousands of ballots in California, Oregon, and Washington from being counted during this year’s primaries.
Legal battles regarding the election are expected to continue beyond Tuesday. Disputes over noncitizen voters and federal monitoring efforts may extend into the ballot counting and certification phases. The races will determine if Republicans retain control of Congress.
