Federal judge bars DoJ from threatening election workers to stop processing ballots
Order says local officials can’t be forced to separate or stop counting ballots that the government deems to be disputed A federal judge has barred the justice department from threatening or coercing election workers to stop processing ballots. The order issued late Friday also bars the justice department from demanding local election officials segregate or not count ballots that the federal government deems may…
Key points
- A federal judge barred the Justice Department from coercing election workers to stop processing ballots.
- The order also blocks demands to segregate or not count ballots the government deems disputed.
- A federal appeals court earlier rejected the DOJ's request to set aside California ballots.
A federal judge has barred the justice department from threatening or coercing election workers to stop processing ballots, according to a ruling issued late Friday. The order also prevents the department from requiring local election officials to separate or not count ballots that the federal government believes may have been cast by ineligible voters.
The ruling is another setback for the Trump administration's efforts to assert control over local elections. It follows a federal appeals court decision on Friday rejecting the justice department's request for California to set aside disputed ballots in the midterm election.
Dispute over California ballots
The administration has claimed California sent ballots to about 20,000 people who may not be US citizens and wants those ballots held until citizenship can be verified. California officials say the list is highly unreliable and likely includes many US citizens.
A district court judge denied the request on Wednesday and warned the demands could disenfranchise citizens. A ninth circuit panel upheld that view 2-1, writing that there is "no feasible way to identify and segregate the ballots of specific individuals without potentially catastrophic effects on the entire system."
Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy.
— Bill Essayli
Voting already under way
Millions of people have already voted in California in the midterm election that concludes on Tuesday, and hundreds of thousands of ballots have been processed. Elections officials have said processed votes cannot be matched back to the voters who submitted them.
The top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, has warned that any election official who knowingly processes a noncitizen's ballot faces legal jeopardy. A justice department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
