Judge blocks DOJ from threatening election workers before midterms
Summary
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the Justice and Homeland Security departments from pressuring states to withhold or stop counting ballots based solely on claims that registered voters are ineligible. The order also bars threats of prosecution against election workers who follow election laws, as federal officials pursue voter-record investigations and related legal actions ahead of the midterms.Key Facts
- U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson said the departments likely violated the Voting Rights Act’s ban on voter intimidation and exceeded their constitutional authority over elections.
- The order bars demands that states remove registered voters, withhold their ballots, or stop counting them solely because the administration claims they are ineligible.
- The judge ordered prosecutors to disclose pending search warrant applications, grand jury subpoenas, and other demands tied to lists of allegedly ineligible voters.
- Since May 2025, the Justice Department has filed 31 lawsuits seeking sensitive voter records; 27 had been dismissed at the time of the article.
- In July, the Justice Department warned election officials in all 50 states that they could face criminal charges for knowingly allowing noncitizens to vote.
- The Justice Department says its election-related actions enforce federal bans on noncitizen voting, which is illegal in federal elections; research cited in the article finds such voting is rare.
- An appeals court rejected the Justice Department’s emergency request to set aside ballots from more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens in California.
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