Judge blocks DOJ from threatening election officials over noncitizen voting claims

A federal judge in California issued a temporary restraining order on 30 October barring the Trump administration from threatening election officials with prosecution for following lawful ballot procedures. Judge Trina Thompson also barred federal officials from pressuring election workers to remove voters, deny ballots or set aside votes solely because the government alleged that the voters were noncitizens. Unions representing election workers and civil rights groups had sued after the Justice Department sent warnings to officials and sought to have ballots from roughly 20,000 registered California voters separated. The department said it was trying to enforce the federal ban on noncitizen voting; the judge found that its conduct was likely to intimidate workers and risk disenfranchising eligible voters ahead of the 3 November midterm election.