The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to intervene after a federal judge last week rejected the Justice Department's request for a temporary restraining order that would have stopped California from counting more than 20,000 ballots it says are from noncitizen voters.

The Justice Department, in its emergency appeal to the high court, is asking for a "limited injunction" to stop California from counting the ballots while lower courts consider the case, the Associated Press reported. 

In a ruling late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Carter, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, wrote that the government's request "would wreak havoc and disrupt the election." 

The Justice Department immediately appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

"The district court denied our emergency request to sequester ballots from 20,000 suspected noncitizens. Every day, more ballots are processed by election officials. This ongoing emergency disenfranchises American citizens through dilution," U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a post on X.