Federal Judge Bars DOJ From Threatening California Election Officials Before Midterms

A federal judge in California has ordered the Justice Department to stop demanding that state and local election officials separate out ballots or decline to count certain votes from alleged noncitizens, and to stop threatening those officials with criminal prosecution if they do not comply. The ruling came days before the midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued the order in response to a lawsuit filed a day earlier by labor unions and other groups. They accused the Trump administration of intimidating California election workers and interfering in the administration of the midterms. She found that federal officials have likely violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965's prohibition on "attempting to intimidate, threaten or coerce" people who help others vote, and that the government was acting outside its legal or constitutional authority.

"One of the hallmarks of a fair election is the freedom to exercise the right to vote free from threat, fear, or intimidation," Thompson wrote. "Free exercise of the right to vote is a core tenet of our democracy. It requires safeguarding to ensure full participation and public trust in our elections." She added: "Although Defendants claim that their actions are designed to halt unlawful voting by noncitizens, their actions are likely to have the effect of interfering with election administration and disenfranchising lawful voters."

The Justice Department has pressed California officials this month to separate out mail ballots for roughly 20,000 people it alleges are not U.S. citizens, and has issued grand jury subpoenas for officials in Los Angeles County. The lawsuit pointed to the head of the department's Civil Rights Division, Harmeet Dhillon, who sent letters to all 50 states and Washington, D.C., in July threatening to prosecute local election officials criminally. It also cited the department's latest demand for lists of voters it believes may be noncitizens. Federal officials have suggested for months that election workers could face prosecution if they fail to stop noncitizens from voting.

Thompson's order is a temporary restraining order that expires on Nov. 16. She set the next hearing for Nov. 13. Beyond blocking the threats and the demands to segregate ballots, she ordered the Justice Department to tell the court about any pending search warrant applications or subpoenas.

The ruling followed a separate defeat for the department. On Wednesday, another California federal judge denied its request to compel the state to set aside more than 20,000 ballots for alleged noncitizens, finding that doing so violates "longstanding constitutional principles" that give states the authority to administer their own elections. The Trump administration appealed, and an appellate court also rejected the request to segregate the ballots on Friday.

CBS News reached out to the Justice Department for comment on the ruling. The department's earlier subpoenas to Los Angeles election workers had drawn alarm from election officials who are days away from counting millions of ballots.