Judge bars Trump administration from threatening election officials with criminal charges

In brief

• A federal judge in California has barred the Trump administration from threatening state and local election officials with criminal charges over ballots it says may belong to non-citizens.
• The eight-page order was issued late on October 30, days before the November 3 midterm elections.
• The Justice Department had sent letters seeking to hold back ballots cast by 20,000 enrolled voters, and Homeland Security personnel delivered threatening notices to counties across California.

Judge blocks threats against election officials

The administration has been told to stop warning local and state election officials that they could face criminal charges for handling ballots (Judge orders Trump administration to stop threatening US election officials – BBC News) (Judge orders Trump administration to stop threatening election officials with criminal charges – NBCNews.com). The eight-page order, issued late on Friday, Oct. 30, prohibits any action that aims to make officials halt processing the ballots of registered voters solely because the administration says those voters are ineligible. U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson wrote that senior Justice Department and Homeland Security officials had run a campaign to intimidate and coerce officials and workers administering the 2026 midterm election. The lawsuit was brought by unions, and the ruling also bars the Justice Department from demanding that local authorities remove voters from rolls or reject ballots based on lists of alleged non-citizens (Midterms: Gericht verbietet Trump-Regierung Druck auf Wahlbeamte – DER SPIEGEL).

Letters sent to California counties

Earlier in October, the Justice Department sent letters to California's secretary of state and the Los Angeles County registrar. Court filings say the letters requested that officials hold back ballots cast by 20,000 enrolled voters, people the administration deemed probably not citizens. Around a week later, Homeland Security personnel, some of them armed, handed notices to officials and staff in counties across California. The letters threatened criminal charges if they did not sequester those ballots.

Trump reacts ahead of vote

Trump criticized the ruling on Saturday, asking on social media why officials would reject efforts to fix election fraud. The timing put the ruling only days ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms, the contest that will decide which party holds Congress for the last two years of Trump's presidency.

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• Federal judge bars Trump administration from threatening election officials with prosecution