Judge Bars Trump Election Threats Over 1,133 Alleged Noncitizen Voters Until Nov. 16
Updated
Updated · NBC News · Oct 31
Judge Bars Trump Election Threats Over 1,133 Alleged Noncitizen Voters Until Nov. 16
3 articles · Updated · NBC News · Oct 31
Summary
An eight-page order from U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson blocks the Trump administration from threatening or coercing election officials into halting ballots based solely on allegations that a registered voter is ineligible.
The ruling followed DOJ and DHS pressure in the run-up to the Nov. 3 midterms, including letters to 57 of California’s 58 counties demanding cooperation within 48 hours and warning of investigations.
One Oct. 22 letter to San Bernardino County attached a list of 1,133 “likely aliens,” sought nonpublic voter data such as Social Security numbers, and asked officials to segregate vote-by-mail ballots if citizenship could not be confirmed.
Courts have repeatedly rejected the administration’s ballot-segregation push: an appeals court on Friday refused to force California to separate disputed ballots, after earlier rulings also blocked efforts targeting more than 20,000 ballots.
Thompson said the campaign, though framed as stopping noncitizen voting, was likely to interfere with election administration and disenfranchise lawful voters; her order remains in effect through Nov. 16.