The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday moved to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit seeking to segregate roughly 20,000 California ballots that federal officials alleged were cast by noncitizens.

The filing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles came days after the Supreme Court denied the Trump administration's emergency appeal and following Tuesday's midterm elections, in which Democrats secured comfortable victories in California's statewide races. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hamill stated in the notice that the requested relief was no longer available because the ballots would be commingled with lawful votes before a scheduled November 13 hearing.

The lawsuit, filed in mid-October, targeted a list of approximately 20,000 registered voters identified by federal authorities as likely noncitizens. The Justice Department had asked the court to require state and Los Angeles County officials to set aside those ballots pending verification of citizenship status. Lower courts, including U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, rejected the request, citing concerns over timing and potential disenfranchisement of eligible voters. The Supreme Court denied the appeal with no noted dissents.

Justice Department spokesperson Kiersten Pels described the specific litigation as moot but emphasized that the administration is not backing down from efforts to address noncitizen voting. She pointed to a separate ongoing case demanding that California conduct proper voter roll maintenance and remove ineligible individuals.

California officials had maintained that the federal list was outdated and included legitimate citizens, a position echoed by the presiding judge. As of Friday, the state had processed millions of ballots, with millions more remaining to be counted. The dismissal avoids further proceedings on the matter without a ruling on the merits of the underlying claims.

The action reflects the Trump administration's continued focus on election integrity measures, including civil and criminal remedies targeting illegal voting. Prosecutors noted that the relief sought was intended to prevent vote dilution by noncitizens in the recent federal election.