Federal Judge Blocks DOJ Threats to California Election Workers as Subpoenas Continue
A federal court has temporarily barred the Trump administration from threatening California election workers with criminal prosecution over ballots the Justice Department alleges belong to noncitizens — but grand jury subpoenas continued arriving at county election offices even after the judge’s order, according to court filings and county officials.
U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued the temporary restraining order Friday, valid through Nov. 16, in response to a lawsuit filed by labor unions and civil rights groups representing California election workers. The order prohibits the DOJ and Department of Homeland Security from threatening or coercing state and local election officials into halting ballot processing or segregating ballots based solely on federal allegations that registered voters are ineligible.
“One of the hallmarks of a fair election is the freedom to exercise the right to vote free from threat, fear, or intimidation,” Thompson, a Biden-appointed judge, wrote in the eight-page order. She found the agencies likely violated the Voting Rights Act’s prohibition on voter intimidation.
Despite the order, at least one grand jury subpoena was delivered to the Orange County Registrar of Voters on Thursday, seeking unredacted voter records for 60 people, according to records obtained by CalMatters. Federal agents with DHS obtained the subpoena last week but delivered it after Thompson’s warning in court Tuesday that threats to election workers “must stop.”
Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office confirmed it received grand jury subpoenas directed at three employees last week, ordering them to testify Nov. 4 — the day after the election.
The DOJ has demanded California officials set aside mail-in ballots for roughly 20,000 voters it alleges are “likely” noncitizens. County election officials across California have challenged the list’s accuracy and the legality of the demand.
Only one county — San Luis Obispo — has announced it will investigate voters on the federal list. A separate federal judge, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, rejected the DOJ’s emergency request to require California to segregate the disputed ballots Wednesday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling Friday. The DOJ is appealing Thompson’s order as well.
The DOJ sent letters to local election officials in California warning they could “risk significant federal scrutiny and legal exposure” if they refused to cooperate. “If persons knowingly tabulate ballots cast by individuals identified by federal agencies as noncitizens, they risk becoming aiders and abettors to a federal crime,” the letters warned. Earlier, Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon sent letters to all 50 states threatening criminal prosecution of local election officials, according to the lawsuit.
The Breakdown
- Thompson’s order prohibits the DOJ and DHS from threatening, intimidating, or coercing state and local election workers into halting ballot processing solely because the administration alleges certain registered voters are ineligible. It also bars demands to remove voters from rolls, refuse to issue ballots, or segregate or decline to count ballots based solely on those allegations.
- The order requires the DOJ to notify state and local governments that received the disputed letters that the demands and threats have been blocked, and to inform the court of any pending search warrant applications or grand jury subpoenas.
- At least four California election workers received federal criminal grand jury subpoenas over the past week, per CalMatters reporting. The Orange County subpoena, delivered Thursday, seeks unredacted voter records for 60 people. The Los Angeles County subpoenas demand records on how the department prevents noncitizens from voting and “records relating to or involving evidence collected by your agency which tends to indicate an alien has voted in a federal election.”
- Los Angeles’ top federal prosecutor, Bill Essayli, a leading aide in President Trump’s push to find evidence of noncitizen voting, sued California and Los Angeles County this month demanding they set aside the ballots of 20,000 registered voters he accused of not being U.S. citizens. Carter rejected that request Wednesday, finding no legal basis and raising concerns the effort would disenfranchise eligible voters. The 9th Circuit upheld Carter’s ruling Friday.
- Last week, federal prosecutors across California charged 28 people with registering to vote despite not being citizens — 0.0001% of the state’s 23 million registered voters, per the material. Not all had voted in past elections.
What This Means for You
The temporary restraining order protects election workers from prosecution threats through Nov. 16, but the order is temporary, the DOJ is appealing, and subpoenas are still arriving.
County election officials challenged the federal list’s accuracy, saying spot checks found the government’s list of names to be inaccurate, but no detail was provided on how many names were checked or what the error rate was.
What to Watch
Carter asked Essayli in court Tuesday: if noncitizens really are voting in the numbers the Trump administration claims, why not simply find and indict them without risking blocking legal voters? “If it’s this big, you’ve got a remedy for goodness sakes,” Carter told Essayli. “Go out and indict.”
The 28 criminal charges filed last week amount to 0.0001% of California’s registered voters.
Elections law expert Justin Levitt noted the statute of limitations on federal voting offenses is five years. “Because they have no role in affecting the election results, there is no reason whatsoever for them to demand this information now,” Levitt said.
Matt Morales, Santa Clara County’s top election official, said in court filings that “the federal government’s conduct has had and continues to have a severe chilling effect on my staff and me.” Contra Costa County registrar Kristin Connelly said she feels “deeply frustrated and stressed because of having to spend so much energy on responding to this threat.”
San Benito County Registrar Francisco Diaz said when DHS officials delivered a letter threatening him with prosecution, he “felt fear and anxiety” and “had to make an emergency plan for how my office would run if I were not there.” Four poll workers in San Benito County did not report to work Friday; Diaz said he believes “additional stress and anxiety could have contributed to these absences.”
