Federal judges have rebuffed the Trump administration’s efforts to seize control of state voting processes, pressure local election workers, and repurpose the midterm ballots for immigration enforcement, delivering a series of legal defeats days before Tuesday’s elections.
Blocking Federal Interference in California Polls
In Northern California late Friday, U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson issued a sweeping order barring the administration from demanding that poll workers set aside ballots questioned by federal officials, or threatening those workers with criminal sanctions, as latimes.com reported. Thompson emphasized the immediate urgency of the calendar, writing that ballots were already circulating and processing was underway.
“Election Day is around the corner. Ballots have already been issued. Americans have already begun voting. Workers have already begun processing ballots,” Thompson wrote. “Given the consequences of inaction, the Court sees no reason to delay its ruling.”
A Justice Department spokesperson criticized the decision, arguing that Thompson ruled without waiting to hear from the United States and pointing to what they termed a “two-track system of justice” that delayed urgent federal election claims. State leaders, meanwhile, remained deeply on guard against potential federal overreach. California Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a remarkable letter Saturday to U.S. District Court judges across the state expressing grave concern that federal agents might seek search warrants to seize ballots and election materials prior to certification.
Disputing Noncitizen Voter Lists and Field Tactics
Thompson’s ruling followed a string of recent setbacks for the administration in both district courts and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Judges blocked attempts to force California election officials to immediately segregate 20,000 ballots alleged to belong to noncitizens, scheduling factual inquiries for after the polls close instead. In a parallel case in Washington, D.C., a federal judge ordered the administration to hand over its list of alleged noncitizen voters to advocacy groups like the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
Data analysts from the UCLA Voting Rights Project reviewed that list and filed court documents Saturday stating it contained extensive errors, including verified citizens and thousands of individuals absent from California’s voter registry entirely. Concurrently, the full 9th Circuit declined to reconsider a ruling upholding U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguin’s injunction, which blocked federal immigration agents from conducting door knocks, street stops, and field interviews targeting noncitizen voters across California and eight other states.
Bipartisan Judges Weigh Voter Integrity Against Disenfranchisement Risks
The coalition challenging the administration includes liberal states, Los Angeles County, and various labor, voting rights, and immigration groups. Significantly, the rulings rejecting the administration’s actions came from a bipartisan bench of federal judges, including appointees of President Trump.
Those jurists weighed the administration’s stated concerns over voter integrity against the immense risk of widespread disenfranchisement. A 9th Circuit majority—comprising one Trump appointee and one Biden appointee—noted that the risks of noncitizen voting were uncertain and tempered by existing state procedures, whereas the requested federal relief posed a material danger to the county’s entire election.
SEIU International President April Verrett praised the protection secured for election workers.
Despite the cascade of legal losses, the administration claimed on social media that it had caught thousands of illegal votes and condemned the courts for rejecting the claims. Atty. Bill Essayli had uncovered massive numbers of illegal votes. Justice Department officials, however, did not immediately appeal the rulings to the U.S. Supreme Court or request further appellate review before the weekend closed.
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