A California judge late Friday ordered the federal government to stop demanding that state and local election officials separate out ballots or not count certain votes from alleged noncitizens, and to stop threatening officials with criminal prosecution if they do not comply.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson came in response to a lawsuit filed a day earlier by labor unions and other groups, accusing the Trump administration of intimidating California election workers and interfering in the administration of the midterms.
The Justice Department has pressed officials in California 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 — part of a sweeping campaign by the Trump administration. Federal officials have also suggested for months that election workers could be prosecuted if they fail to stop noncitizens from voting.
The lawsuit cited the head of the Justice Department Civil Rights Division, Harmeet Dhillon, sending letters to all 50 states and Washington, D.C., threatening to criminally prosecute local election officials in July, and the department’s latest demand for lists of names of voters they believe are possibly noncitizens, as examples of unlawful conduct.
The judge on Friday found 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. She also said 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,” she 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.”
Thompson also wrote: “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 judge issued a temporary restraining order that expires on Nov. 16, and scheduled the next hearing for Nov. 13.
In addition to blocking the Justice Department from threatening criminal prosecutions or demanding that officials separate out ballots, Thompson ordered the Justice Department to inform the court of any pending search warrant applications or subpoenas.
CBS News has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
The ruling was issued after another California federal judge on Wednesday denied the Justice Department’s request to compel California to set aside more than 20,000 ballots for alleged noncitizens. He found that it violates “longstanding constitutional principles” giving states the authority to administer their own elections. The Trump administration appealed the matter to an appellate court, which also rejected a request to segregate the ballots on Friday.
