Judge blocks DOJ from threatening election officials over noncitizen voting claims

A California federal judge Friday ordered the Trump administration to stop threatening election officials with criminal prosecution in its ongoing efforts to crack down on noncitizen voting.

U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued a temporary restraining order connected to a lawsuit brought by unions representing California election workers earlier Friday. In her decision, the Biden-appointed judge noted Election Day was “around the corner.”

“Ballots have already been issued. Americans have already begun voting. Workers have already begun processing ballots,” Thompson wrote. “Given the consequences of inaction, the Court sees no reason to delay its ruling.”

The order also directs the Trump administration to halt its efforts to force these workers to remove certain people from voter rolls, deny ballot requests to some voters or set aside ballots for individuals it suspects are ineligible to vote.

The plaintiffs involved in this case include The Service Employees International Union; American Federation Of State, County and Municipal Employees; the League Of United Latin American Citizens and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The initial complaint accuses Attorney General Todd Blanche and other top Justice Department (DOJ) officials of carrying out “a coordinated campaign to intimidate, threaten, and coerce state and local officials and employees.”

This week, the DOJ sent letters to election officials in all 50 states threatening potential prosecution if they failed to preserve election records.

The DOJ had sent similar correspondence a week prior to election officials in every California county, demanding they work with the federal government to identify potential noncitizens on their voter rolls. The letter warned these officials would “risk significant federal scrutiny” if they failed to comply with this request.

Earlier this week, another federal judge in California threw out the Trump administration’s lawsuit attempting to require the state to set aside the ballots of 20,000 people the federal government had identified as potential noncitizens. A split federal appeals court panel upheld this ruling Friday.

The Hill has reached out to the DOJ and the White House for comment on Thompson’s order.