Trump Administration Sues California Officials Over Mail-In Ballots

Albuquerque Santa Fe, NM, October 15, 2026 —

The Trump administration has sued California election officials, seeking to stop mail-in ballots from people identified as “likely” noncitizens from being counted in the upcoming midterm elections until their citizenship status can be confirmed.

The request concerns ballots cast by individuals whose citizenship has not been confirmed, according to the information provided. It does not say how officials identify someone as “likely” to be a noncitizen or what process would be used to verify citizenship. The summary also does not specify how many voters or ballots may be affected.

The stated aim of the lawsuit is to prevent those ballots from being counted before citizenship status is confirmed. The information provided does not describe the legal arguments in the case, identify the California officials named as defendants, or say where or when the lawsuit was filed.

It is also unclear whether the court has acted on the administration’s request. No response from the California officials, decision by a judge, or further procedural step is included in the summary. The dispute’s outcome therefore remains unspecified in the information available here.

The case centers on how ballots associated with people whose citizenship is in question would be handled ahead of the midterms. The summary does not provide details about California’s existing ballot-counting procedures or explain whether the requested restriction would apply statewide or to a narrower group. Those details, along with the parties’ arguments and any court ruling, were not provided.

Story summarized from the original created by Jonathan Fjeld on www.kob.com, see more information here.

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