A federal judge on Friday ordered the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to stop threatening or intimidating state and local election officials, days before the November 3 midterm elections.
US District Judge Trina Thompson issued a temporary restraining order in the Northern District of California. The order bars the agencies from demanding that officials halt ballot processing, remove voters from voter rolls, refuse ballots to specific voters, or set aside ballots based on administration lists of alleged noncitizen voters. It also blocks threats of criminal prosecution against election officials.
Thompson wrote that the administration’s actions were likely to interfere with election administration and disenfranchise lawful voters, according to Reuters and CNN. The order runs through November 16.
The case was brought by a coalition of labour unions and civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the League of United Latin American Citizens. The Justice Department appealed the order on Saturday, CNN reported. The department had no immediate comment when the ruling was issued, Reuters reported.
The ruling followed letters from the Justice Department to election officials in all 50 states this week warning of criminal penalties over records retention, according to NBC News.
Source: Reuters
