How the citizenship row matters to immigrants after US Supreme Court rejects Trump’s 20,000-ballot plea

The US Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration’s request to stop California from counting more than 20,000 mail-in ballots linked to voters suspected of being non-US citizens. While the case concerns voting eligibility, it has also raised questions about how the government verifies citizenship and whether naturalised Americans could be wrongly identified as ineligible voters.

The Justice Department wanted California election officials to separate the disputed ballots and hold them back until the citizenship of the voters could be confirmed. The administration argued that counting these ballots before verification could allow votes cast by non-citizens to affect the election.

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However, California questioned the accuracy of the federal government's list, arguing that it included people who were US citizens or were not active registered voters.

The Supreme Court rejected the administration's emergency request without giving an explanation. The decision means California does not have to set aside the disputed ballots under the order sought by the government.

How did the government identify the suspected non-citizen voters?

The Department of Homeland Security and US Citizenship and Immigration Services compared California's voter registration records with federal immigration information and third-party data to identify people they believed were non-citizens.

The federal government shared a list of more than 20,000 names with California officials in October and asked the state to verify their citizenship. It also wanted ballots from these individuals to be kept separate until their status was confirmed.

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California officials questioned the method used to prepare the list and refused to follow the demand.

The accuracy of the information subsequently became a major issue in court. Researchers working with the UCLA Voting Rights Project found that about 42% of the names on the federal list did not appear in California's current voter registration records. Their analysis also identified cases involving US citizens who appeared to have been incorrectly flagged.

Why are naturalised US citizens concerned?

Naturalised citizens are people born outside the US who have acquired American citizenship through the legal naturalisation process. Once they become citizens, they have the same right to vote in federal elections as people born in the country.

However, citizenship verification can become complicated when government databases contain outdated or conflicting information. This was one of the concerns raised in the legal challenge. An immigrant rights group argued that the federal government's approach put naturalised citizens at risk of being wrongly identified and having their voting rights affected.

Can green card holders vote in US elections?

No. Permanent residents, including green card holders, are not US citizens and cannot vote in federal elections. Under US law, non-citizens are prohibited from voting in federal elections. Registering or voting illegally can lead to criminal consequences and may also affect a person's immigration status or future citizenship application.

However, being named on a government list of suspected non-citizens does not establish that someone has voted illegally. Their actual citizenship and voting eligibility must be assessed individually.

Does the Supreme Court decision end the dispute?

No. The Supreme Court rejected the administration's request for immediate intervention but did not decide whether the 20,000 individuals were citizens or whether the federal government's verification methods were lawful.

The wider dispute over federal authority to examine state voter records and the procedures used to verify citizenship therefore remains unresolved.