California Dems Claim Win Over Trump In Supreme Court Ruling On Ballots

SACRAMENTO, California — California Democrats exhaled on Monday after the Supreme Court allowed states to continue counting ballots postmarked by Election Day, declining to upend the slow vote-counting process in the nation’s most populous state.

The decision affected about 30 states, but it was especially closely watched in California, a heavily Democratic state where tabulating votes routinely takes weeks and ballots from the June 2 primary are still being counted. It comes as President Donald Trump has railed against the practice in California, arguing without evidence that it fuels election fraud.

“Despite ongoing attacks from the Trump Administration, we will not stop to ensure every eligible Californian can make their voice heard,” Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on social media. “Democracy is strongest when we all take part.”

State Democratic lawmakers who hold a supermajority in Sacramento have repeatedly defended the state’s system and fended off Republican pressure to enact change — even as the president has directed federal prosecutors to investigate election fraud claims in the California gubernatorial primary. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced an investigation into baseless allegations of voter fraud as ballot-counting was underway in Los Angeles earlier this month.

“I know our responsibility is to count every eligible ballot — not create new barriers for voters,” said Democratic Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, a former local election official. “Today, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of voter enfranchisement.”

Republicans in California, powerless to change the system at the state Capitol, have turned to the ballot box with a measure to, like the federal SAVE America Act, require voter ID. That proposal wouldn’t accelerate vote counting, but it is the likely next battleground for Republicans in the state who rail against California’s elections.

"Even though the Supreme Court ruled that mail ballots can be counted after the election, California election rules are so insane that it is still violating this court ruling by counting ballots without a postmark,” said Republican state Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, who is leading the campaign to pass a voter ID requirement at the ballot in California in November. “With this ruling in hand, I'm calling on state election officials to issue revised guidance to all counties to ensure that only ballots with proper postmarks on them are counted."