A United States federal judge has barred the Department of Justice from threatening state and local election officials with criminal prosecution over their handling of ballots ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
Judge Trina Thompson of the Northern District of California issued the temporary restraining order on Friday following a lawsuit filed by labour unions and civil rights organisations against the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security.
The ruling prohibits the agencies from pressuring election officials to stop processing ballots belonging to registered voters based solely on allegations that they are ineligible to vote.
In her order, Thompson stated, “Defendants shall not threaten, intimidate or coerce state or local elections officials or workers to demand that they halt processing the ballots of any registered voter solely on the basis that the ballot belongs to an individual alleged by Defendants to be ineligible to vote.”
She further directed that Justice Department officials must not threaten election workers with criminal prosecution for refusing to comply with such demands.
The judge also prohibited the defendants from demanding the removal of specific registered voters from electoral registers, withholding ballots from particular voters or seeking to prevent the counting of ballots over alleged voter ineligibility.
Thompson said the intervention was necessary because of the approaching election date and the likelihood that the plaintiffs would succeed in their legal challenge.
She described the alleged intimidation of election officials and threats of prosecution as “contrary to law” and “arbitrary and capricious.”
The order, which is expected to remain in force until November 16, represents a setback for President Donald Trump’s administration, which has been pushing measures to scrutinise the voting eligibility of individuals suspected of not being American citizens.
The development comes amid growing political tension ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections, in which Trump’s Republican Party faces the possibility of losing its control of Congress.
Critics have accused the administration of attempting to undermine confidence in the electoral process.
On Wednesday, another federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to set aside ballots belonging to more than 20,000 California voters whose citizenship status the government questioned.
The court reportedly criticised the move as brazen pre-election interference.
Trump has repeatedly raised concerns about alleged electoral fraud ahead of the midterm elections, having continued to dispute his defeat to former President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
However, studies have consistently found that voter fraud in the United States is rare and occurs on a scale too small to significantly influence election outcomes.
The latest ruling comes as election officials prepare for the November 3 polls, with the dispute over voter eligibility and ballot processing adding to concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
