Judge orders Trump administration to stop threatening election officials

Politics · First reported 31 Oct, 02:19 · Updated 09:03

Image: Wikimedia Commons · NASA Johnson Space Center · Public domain

A California federal judge barred the Trump administration from threatening or coercing election officials over ballots it says may have been cast by noncitizens. The order comes amid federal efforts to have states identify and segregate such ballots before the midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued an order barring actions to threaten, intimidate or coerce state and local election officials over ballots the administration alleges were cast by ineligible voters.
The order is set to remain in effect through Nov. 16, nearly two weeks after Election Day.
The Justice Department sent letters to officials in 57 of California’s 58 counties seeking cooperation with investigations and voter-registration information about people it suspected were noncitizens.
Federal appeals courts rejected administration requests to require California officials to segregate ballots tied to noncitizen-voting claims.
The ruling came days before midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.