WASHINGTON.- The administration of Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Monday, November 2, to order California to set aside mailed ballots cast by voters on a list of about 20,000 registered voters the administration alleges may not be citizens, escalating a ballot fight to the nation's highest court on the very eve of the midterm elections that will decide control of Congress.
The emergency request, filed the day before voters go to the polls on Tuesday, November 3, asks the justices to intervene after a federal judge rejected the Justice Department's bid. U.S. District Judge David Carter turned down the request on October 28, saying that never before in history has the federal government sought to coerce a state to abandon its constitutional election procedures and bend to the will of the executive branch. The administration's filing argues that California must segregate the disputed mailed ballots so they can be identified if a court later rules on their eligibility.
The California fight lands alongside a second, nationwide move by the Justice Department: about 1,000 federal monitors will be deployed across the country on Election Day, roughly triple the number used in the last midterm elections. Local election officials have warned that such a large federal presence could intimidate voters, while the Justice Department says those fears are baseless and that the monitors are there to ensure the law is followed. Election officials have also warned that close races could spark disputes over voter eligibility, ballot counting and certification, and that long lines, machine malfunctions or challenges by partisan poll watchers could fuel litigation and delay results.
The stakes on Tuesday are control of Congress for the final two years of Donald Trump's term. Democrats need a net gain of four seats in both chambers to overturn narrow Republican majorities of 218-214 in the House and 53-47 in the Senate. More than 54 million Americans have already cast ballots early, a record for a midterm, and the first polls close Tuesday at 6 p.m. Eastern time, with the last in Alaska closing at 1 a.m. Eastern.
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Sources: USA Today live election updates and Reuters factbox, November 2, 2026.