Biden Judge Blocks DOJ Threats Over Noncitizen Voter Lists Before Vote

A federal judge in California on Friday night blocked the Trump administration from pressing state and local election officials to set aside ballots tied to voters it believes are noncitizens, just four days before the November 3 midterms, according to CNN, CBS News and Reuters.

U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson of the Northern District of California, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, issued a temporary restraining order that bars the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security from demanding that election officials in any state segregate ballots, remove voters from the rolls or halt ballot processing based on the administration’s lists of alleged noncitizen voters, CNN reported.

JUST IN: Judge Trina Thompson (Biden/CAND) orders Trump admin to stop threats of prosecution aimed at state/local election officials, halt demands to segregate ballots & notify recipients of previous threats that court has enjoined them. w/@kyledcheney https://t.co/TJi1rvp2sj

— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) October 31, 2026

What the order does

The order also blocks the two departments from threatening election workers with criminal prosecution for counting ballots cast by registered voters the administration says are ineligible, according to CNN. CBS News reported that the judge also ordered the Justice Department to inform the court of any pending search warrant applications or subpoenas.

CBS News reported that the order expires on November 16 and that Thompson set the next hearing for November 13. Politico’s Josh Gerstein reported on X that the order also requires the administration to notify officials who received earlier demands that those demands are now blocked.

“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 CNN and CBS News.

Thompson found federal officials likely violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965’s ban on attempts to “intimidate, threaten or coerce” people who help others vote, and that the government acted outside its legal or constitutional authority, CBS News reported.

The fight over 20,000 California ballots

The lawsuit was filed one day earlier by labor unions and other groups, which accused the administration of intimidating California election workers, according to CBS News. CBS News reported that the Justice Department had pressed California officials this month to separate mail ballots for roughly 20,000 people it alleges are not U.S. citizens, and that it issued grand jury subpoenas to officials in Los Angeles County.

CBS News reported that the lawsuit pointed to letters that Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, sent to all 50 states and Washington, D.C., in July warning that local officials could face prosecution if they knowingly allowed noncitizens to vote.

Why it matters

The administration has argued its effort is about stopping illegal voting by noncitizens, which is a federal crime, according to the reporting from CNN and Reuters.

Reuters reported that the order was issued in a lawsuit brought by election workers’ unions and other groups, and that Thompson ruled the Justice Department went too far this month when it threatened to prosecute state and county officials who do not cooperate with the administration’s election initiatives.

Reuters reported that Thompson wrote that because Election Day is only days away, “the balance of the equities and public interest weigh in Plaintiffs’ favor.” CNN reported that the order applies to election officials in any state, not just California. None of the reports cited here said whether the administration plans to appeal before Tuesday.

Sources

• CNN
• CBS News
• Reuters via Yahoo News
• Josh Gerstein on X

Reporting by Daily Beltway.