A federal judge issued a sweeping order late Friday barring the Trump administration from threatening or intimidating election officials as part of pressure tactics the administration used in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The eight-page order prohibits any action that would “threaten, intimidate, or coerce state or local election officials or workers into demanding that they stop processing the ballots of any registered voter solely because the ballot belongs to an individual alleged by (the administration) to be ineligible.”
California-based U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson wrote: “As the election approaches, high-ranking DOJ and DHS officials have engaged in a campaign to intimidate, threaten, and coerce state and local officials and employees who are engaged in the administration of the ongoing 2026 midterm elections. »
The order follows efforts to force states like California and Washington to segregate ballots that the administration fears could be cast by noncitizens. An appeals court ruled this week against the California administration; the Washington case is ongoing.
“Although defendants claim that their actions are intended to stop illegal non-citizen voting, their actions will likely have the effect of interfering with election administration and disenfranchising legal voters,” Thompson wrote Friday.
The judge’s order extends through Nov. 16, nearly two weeks after Election Day.
The Justice Department sent letters to election officials in 57 of California’s 58 counties last week, ordering them to cooperate with DOJ investigations into illegal voting or face investigations themselves.
“As you know, federal law prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections,” states a letter sent to a San Bernardino County elections official on October 22. “I am writing to request your assistance in protecting the integrity of the ongoing federal election.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli wrote in the letter that he attached a list of “1,133 probable aliens” registered to vote in San Bernardino County.
“Within 48 hours, we ask that you commit to working with the DOJ and DHS to identify who on the escort list is a citizen and who is not,” Essayli wrote, adding, “This means sending us the nonpublic information associated with the registration of each suspected alien,” including Social Security numbers, state ID cards or driver’s licenses.
“For individuals whose citizenship status cannot be confirmed, we ask that you immediately request the appropriate election official to segregate – not void – the absentee ballots of these individuals until their citizenship status can be determined,” Essayli wrote.
Essayli claimed the list of suspected noncitizens was created through a “multi-tiered, multi-agency investigative methodology” by DHS. He urged election officials to comply, reiterating that “the legal consequences of facilitating or ignoring federal crimes are significant.”
In a ruling Friday, a federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s request to force California election officials to segregate ballots it says came from noncitizens.
The ruling follows a separate ruling Monday by a federal appeals court also rejecting the DOJ’s attempt to block the counting of more than 20,000 ballots over claims that noncitizens were included on the state’s voter rolls.
And on Wednesday, a federal judge argued that the Justice Department’s request to segregate ballots “violates long-standing constitutional principles requiring states to control their elections,” and called into question the administration’s processes for identifying purported noncitizens.
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