Judge bars federal threats over ballot processing as appeals court rejects California request

Politics · First reported 31 Oct, 01:30 · Updated 09:15

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

A federal judge barred the administration from threatening or coercing election workers over ballots tied to voters it says may be ineligible. Separately, an appeals court rejected the Justice Department’s request to set aside roughly 20,000 California ballots while officials checked voters’ citizenship.

The judge’s order bars federal officials from threatening or coercing election workers to stop processing ballots based on allegations that voters are ineligible.
The order also bars demands to segregate or not count disputed ballots; Fox reports it additionally bars demands to remove registered voters from voter rolls or refuse them ballots.
The Ninth Circuit rejected the Justice Department’s request to set aside roughly 20,000 California ballots while voters’ citizenship status was checked.
California officials said the list of people identified by the administration was unreliable; the Guardian reports that many on it were likely citizens.
Fox reports the judge ordered the administration to notify state and local governments that disputed letters and prosecution threats had been blocked.

Summary written by Lux AI from 3 articles

Key facts

California ballots at issue: About 20,000, according to both accounts.
Appeals court: The Ninth Circuit rejected the request to set aside the disputed ballots.
Judge: U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued the order, according to Fox.
Lawsuit plaintiffs: Labor unions and civil-rights groups, including SEIU and the NAACP, according to Fox.