President Donald Trump has lost his 21st consecutive court case related to efforts challenging election procedures ahead of the midterms, extending an unbroken string of legal defeats.

On Thursday, a California court rejected a Republican-backed petition seeking to revise the official description of Proposition 39, a ballot measure that would require voters to present government-issued identification. The ruling preserves ballot language stating the measure would bar citizens from voting unless they provide such identification. Ballot measure descriptions prepared by the state attorney general are typically the only summary language voters see at the polls, making their wording a frequent battleground for advocates seeking to frame measures favorably or unfavorably.

"A California court dealt Republicans a major defeat Thursday, rejecting their bid to soften the official description of an anti-voting measure and preserving ballot language warning that it would bar citizens from voting unless they present government-issued identification," wrote Democracy Docket's Yunior Rivas. "The decision is a significant win for California voters seeking clear information about how the measure could prevent eligible ballots from being counted."

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Jennifer K. Rockwell denied the GOP petition, ruling that Attorney General Rob Bonta's title, summary, and label for Proposition 39 accurately describe the measure and fall within his legal authority to prepare ballot materials. California is among the majority of states that do not currently require voters to present photo identification at the polls, and Proposition 39 represents an effort to introduce such a requirement in one of the nation's largest electorates.

Republicans had argued that Proposition 39 would not prevent voters from casting ballots, but would simply ensure compliance with voter ID requirements before those ballots could be counted. Judge Rockwell rejected that reasoning.

"Petitioners' contention that Proposition 39 would not prohibit 'voting' because it may allow the submission of ballots that will not be counted is inconsistent with the settled understanding of what it means to 'vote,'" Rockwell stated in her decision. "Because Proposition 39 would prohibit the counting of ballots not submitted in compliance with the identification requirements, there is nothing misleading or inaccurate about the statement that the measure 'prohibits citizens from voting unless they present government-issued identification.'"

Trump has now lost all of his court challenges related to election procedures, including cases heard before other Republican-appointed judges. In lieu of prevailing in court, Trump has threatened to deploy the Department of Homeland Security and other federal law enforcement agencies to intervene in elections—a domain constitutionally delegated to the states.