Judge Orders Trump Administration to Cease Threats to Prosecute Election Officials
U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson on Friday ordered the Justice Department to stop threatening state and local election officials who do not comply with its demands over alleged noncitizen voters, days before the midterms.
A federal judge on Friday ordered the Justice Department to stop threatening to prosecute state and local election officials who do not comply with the Trump administration's demands related to voting by alleged noncitizens, according to Reuters, read in full this cycle. U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued the temporary restraining order in a lawsuit brought by election workers' unions and other groups.
Thompson ordered the administration to refrain from demanding that local election officials remove voters from statewide rolls, refuse ballots to specific voters, or segregate ballots cast in the midterm elections, based on an administration list of alleged noncitizen voters. 'Because the public has a paramount interest in ensuring that election officials and workers are able to carry out their work in accordance with federal law and election procedure, and the official day of the Elections is only a couple of days away, the balance of the equities and public interest weigh in Plaintiffs' favor,' Thompson wrote in the order, as quoted by Reuters.
The ruling lands days before Tuesday's midterm elections, which will determine control of a Congress where Republicans hold narrow majorities in both chambers. The Justice Department had no immediate comment on the ruling, Reuters reported. Critics, including political experts as well as Democratic and some Republican election officials, have viewed the administration's election-oversight push as federal overreach, and some officials told Reuters they were preparing for potential federal interference in the midterms. Thompson was appointed by former President Joe Biden.
