Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration's Threats Against Election Workers

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from threatening election workers with criminal prosecution over ballots linked to suspected noncitizen voters. U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued a restraining order Friday, finding that the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security likely violated the Voting Rights Act's prohibition against voter intimidation.

Thompson, a Biden-appointed judge, wrote in her order that "One of the hallmarks of a fair election is the freedom to exercise the right to vote free from threat, fear, or intimidation." The ruling came days before the midterm elections, as the Trump administration had been seeking voter registration information from states to prevent noncitizen voting and uphold election integrity.

The temporary restraining order prohibits federal officials from threatening, intimidating, or coercing state and local election workers into halting ballot processing based solely on the administration's allegations of ineligibility. It also bars the administration from demanding that election officials remove registered voters from rolls, refuse to issue them ballots, or decline to count their ballots based on such claims.

The lawsuit was brought by labor unions and civil rights organizations, including the Service Employees International Union and the NAACP. Thompson cited the public's paramount interest in ensuring election officials can carry out their duties and noted that "Americans have already begun voting."

This decision follows another setback for the administration on Friday, when a federal appeals court denied its emergency request to set aside approximately 20,000 mail-in ballots in California. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Justice Department's request to segregate these ballots pending verification of voters' citizenship status, occurring just four days before Election Day.