Federal judges curb Trump administration's attempts to pressure state election officials ahead of midterms

Federal judges issued a series of rulings just before polls opened for Tuesday’s midterm elections, limiting the Trump administration’s attempts to pressure state election officials over alleged non-citizen voting. The courts found that the administration had exceeded its authority by intervening in election administration, a function assigned to the states by the Constitution, and that the lists of purported non-citizen voters were inaccurate and risked disenfranchising naturalized citizens.

In Washington, a judge barred the administration from directing California officials to reject ballots from individuals on such a list, while another judge prohibited the distribution of the lists to any state officials. The rulings followed the Supreme Court’s swift rejection of the administration’s request to intervene in a Justice Department lawsuit that sought to stop California from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 people the department said might be non-citizens.

"The Supreme Court joined federal courts across the country in reaffirming state sovereignty," said David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan advisory group.

Justice Department spokesperson Kiersten Pels expressed disappointment with the Supreme Court decision but said the department would continue its efforts, adding, "We are deploying election monitors in California and across the country to observe compliance with federal law, charging election fraudsters daily, and will pursue other legal avenues to ensure that only eligible American citizens vote."

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 6-5 split along ideological lines, lifted a lower-court order that had barred the administration from threatening election officials with prosecution over alleged non-citizen voters. Pels welcomed the decision, stating it "recognized our important and lawful efforts to protect the integrity of our elections."

A separate Washington judge denied a request by the NAACP to block the Justice Department from deploying federal law-enforcement personnel as poll monitors, noting that any such monitors would be unarmed and dressed in business-casual attire. Pels dismissed claims that federal law-enforcement presence at polls was "fearmongering."

The Justice Department still seeks to revive a lawsuit that could prevent certification of Alaska’s Senate race if incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan loses by a narrow margin, arguing that a similarly named candidate could confuse voters. President Donald Trump, who maintains that the 2020 election was affected by fraud, has repeatedly urged state officials to take stronger action against voter fraud, though his allies’ numerous lawsuits challenging the 2020 results have all been dismissed.