A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered the Trump administration to stop threatening state and local election workers with criminal prosecution over ballots it says were cast by noncitizens, days before Tuesday’s midterm elections.
US District Judge Trina Thompson issued a temporary restraining order late Friday barring the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security from demanding that officials remove voters from the rolls, refuse them ballots, or set aside their votes solely because the government alleges they are ineligible.
“Although Defendants claim that their actions are designed to halt unlawful voting by noncitizens, their actions are likely to have the effect of interfering with election administration and disenfranchising lawful voters,” Thompson wrote, according to the BBC.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department demanded that California’s secretary of state and the Los Angeles County registrar set aside the ballots of about 20,000 registered voters the administration believes are likely noncitizens. Court documents say armed DHS officials later delivered letters to county election workers across California threatening criminal charges if they did not sequester those ballots. A similar demand was sent to Washington state.
The order, sought by labor unions and other groups, runs until November 16, with a hearing set for November 13. Separately on Friday, a divided federal appeals court rejected the Justice Department’s request that California set aside the disputed ballots.
Trump criticised the ruling on Saturday, writing: “Why would they reject fixing Election Fraud?” California officials say the federal list is unreliable and likely includes many US citizens. A Heritage Foundation database cited by BBC Verify lists 24 convictions of noncitizens for voting between 2005 and 2025.
Sources: BBC News, The Guardian, CBS News
—
