Federal judge orders DOJ to cease threats to election officials over ballot handling
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U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson ruled that the Department of Justice must stop demanding that local officials set aside ballots alleged to belong to non-citizens, citing interference with election administration.
A federal judge in California has ordered the Department of Justice to stop pressuring state and local election officials to segregate or discard ballots that the Trump administration claims may belong to non-citizens. Judge Trina Thompson wrote that the demands would interfere with election administration and could disenfranchise lawful voters.
The ruling follows letters sent earlier this month by the Justice Department to California's secretary of state and the Los Angeles County Registrar, requesting that ballots of about 20,000 registered voters be set aside. A week later, officials from the Department of Homeland Security delivered additional letters warning of criminal charges if the ballots were not sequestered. Election officials said they could not comply because state and federal election laws require processing all valid ballots.
Civil-rights groups and unions representing election workers sued, alleging that the Justice Department was unlawfully interfering with the conduct of elections. Judge Thompson also noted a similar letter had been sent to Washington state officials demanding the cessation of ballot processing for alleged non-citizen voters.
The order comes weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, which will determine congressional control for the final two years of President Donald Trump's term. While the administration has repeatedly asserted that voter fraud is widespread, research cited by the BBC indicates that convictions of non-citizens for voting are extremely rare.