A federal judge in California has temporarily barred the Department of Justice from coercing or threatening local election workers, capping a series of fast-moving legal defeats for the Trump administration just days before Tuesday’s midterm elections.
U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson in Northern California issued an eight-page temporary restraining order late Friday that remains in place through Nov. 16. The ruling prevents federal officials from threatening or intimidating state and local election personnel into halting the processing of ballots belonging to registered voters whom the administration claims are ineligible, ABC News reported.
Thompson stated that inaction was not an option given that voting has begun and workers are already handling ballots. The lawsuit was filed late Thursday by civil rights organizations alongside labor unions representing California election personnel, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Election Workers Detail Anxiety and Staffing Strains
The ruling followed sworn declarations submitted by local California registrars describing how federal pressure disrupted office operations and rattled employees. In Santa Clara County, top election official Matt Morales said the government’s actions created a severe chilling effect and prompted updated training for poll workers on how to handle potential disruptions caused by federal law enforcement activity, ABC News reported.
San Benito County Registrar Francisco Diaz stated in court documents that he experienced fear and anxiety after Homeland Security personnel delivered a letter threatening prosecution. Diaz said he had to formulate an emergency continuity plan in case he faced arrest, and noted that four poll workers failed to report for duty on Friday, according to ABC News.
A Justice Department spokesperson criticized the decision, arguing that the court acted without hearing from the federal government and asserting the ruling reflects a divided judicial standard, the Los Angeles Times reported. The department said it is evaluating its options.
Cascade of Rebuffs in Federal Courts
The temporary restraining order is one of several rulings handed down against the administration’s election-related maneuvers. In Southern California, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter rejected a Justice Department effort to segregate 20,000 ballots belonging to voters the administration alleged could be noncitizens. Carter wrote that constitutional protections outweigh baseless allegations derived from flawed procedures, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals twice affirmed that approach, with a two-judge panel finding that intervening would contravene constitutional limits on executive power over elections. The full appellate court also declined to reconsider a separate injunction barring federal immigration agents from conducting door-to-door interviews and street stops in California and eight other states, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In Washington on Saturday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan voiced skepticism during a hearing concerning a challenge by the League of United Latin American Citizens to the administration’s voter data practices, NBC News reported. Chutkan noted that past federal lists contained significant inaccuracies, highlighting a Nevada case where none of nearly 16,000 flagged individuals were actually noncitizens. Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Shapiro acknowledged past mistakes but insisted the government was not seeking to make errors.
What Comes Next
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter Saturday to federal judges throughout the state warning that federal agents might attempt to obtain search warrants to seize election materials before tallies are certified, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Judge Chutkan is expected to issue a decision in the Washington litigation in the coming days, while broader legal disputes over voter eligibility records are scheduled for additional hearings after balloting concludes, according to NBC News and the Los Angeles Times.
