DOJ races to Supreme Court over 20,000 California mail ballots

The Trump administration took its ballot fight to the highest court Monday, asking the Supreme Court to hear its appeal in a case targeting roughly 20,000 California mail-in voters. The Justice Department argues those voters may not be U.S. citizens. With Election Day one day away, the timing leaves almost no room to spare.

The push follows a loss at the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which three days earlier turned down the department's attempt to block a lower federal court's injunction. That injunction let the disputed ballots be counted. The DOJ's new petition effectively asks the Supreme Court to step in where the appeals court would not.

At the center of the case is a batch of mail-in ballots the department has been trying to keep out of the tally. The administration has sought to block California from counting them, arguing the voters' citizenship is in question. So far, courts have declined to stop the count.

The filing is the latest round in a fast-moving legal scramble, and it lands at the last possible moment in the election calendar. There's no word yet on whether the Supreme Court will take up the request or act before ballots are finalized. This is a breaking story, so expect more to come.