The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has dismissed the Trump Administration's request to prevent counting mail-in ballots cast by approximately 20,000 California voters the administration alleged were noncitizens, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The Trump Administration had sought emergency relief directly from the appeals court without first obtaining a ruling from a trial court. The Ninth Circuit rejected the request after hearing oral arguments.
At the hearing, the Trump Administration could not explain where it obtained its voter list, how it identified the 20,000 individuals as likely noncitizens, or what role unidentified third parties played in the process, Bonta said.
When Los Angeles County election officials reviewed the administration's list, they found substantial problems. More than half of the individuals listed had canceled or inactive voter registrations, 38.9 percent had a U.S. birthplace on file, and 71.2 percent had no voting history. Officials in Mendocino County reported that all individuals on the list lived outside their county.
The Trump Administration initially claimed in July 2026 that California had more than 190,000 noncitizen voters. That figure was later reduced to about 20,000, representing a 90 percent decrease from the original allegation.
Bonta argued that the Trump Administration had no legal basis to override California's election laws, and that states—not the federal executive branch—have constitutional authority over how elections are conducted.