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Judge Blocks Justice Department From Threatening Election Workers Days Before US Midterms

By Beauty of Bharat · Published 31 October 2026

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A federal judge in California has temporarily blocked the US Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security from threatening state and local election workers with criminal prosecution over how they process ballots, just days before the November 3 midterm elections. The emergency order, issued on Friday, October 30, is a significant courtroom setback for the Trump administration's late push over alleged non-citizen voting.

This post reflects reporting available on 31 October 2026, including Reuters, Malay Mail / AFP and Court-order reporting. Where sources disagree or a detail is unconfirmed, the article says so.

What the judge ordered

US District Judge Trina Thompson, of the Northern District of California, issued a temporary restraining order in Service Employees International Union v. US Department of Justice. The order bars the agencies from threatening, intimidating or coercing election officials or workers to halt processing of a registered voter's ballot solely because the government alleges that voter is ineligible.

The order also bars officials from demanding, on that basis alone, that election officials remove specific voters from registration lists, refuse them ballots, or segregate and withhold their ballots. Thompson wrote that workers who process and count ballots as state and federal law require do not violate federal criminal law, even when a ballot belongs to someone the government has accused of being ineligible.

The restraining order is due to expire on November 16, with a preliminary injunction hearing set for November 13. The Justice Department must respond by noon on Monday, according to court-order reporting, and was reported to have had no immediate comment on the ruling.

How the case arose

The lawsuit was brought by the Service Employees International Union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the NAACP. Thompson granted the emergency order without first hearing from the government, finding that the plaintiffs had shown they were likely to succeed on the merits and that the fast-approaching election justified urgent relief.

The dispute followed Justice Department letters sent on October 23 to county election officials and employees in California, threatening criminal prosecution for workers who helped process a ballot cast by a voter the government claimed was ineligible. The department had also sought to have California segregate about 20,000 ballots and Washington segregate 405 ballots, according to court-order reporting.

Thompson, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, found that the public interest weighed in favour of allowing election officials to carry out their work in accordance with federal law and election procedure, especially with Election Day only days away.

Why it matters for November 3

The midterms will determine control of Congress, where Republicans currently hold narrow majorities in the House and Senate. All 435 House seats are up for election, making the final days of ballot processing politically and legally sensitive.

The ruling does not permanently resolve the underlying lawsuit, and it does not eliminate voter-eligibility laws. It is a temporary emergency order that limits what federal agencies can demand or threaten while the case continues.

For election workers, the practical effect is clearer protection in the short term: they cannot lawfully be threatened with prosecution for refusing the specific demands covered by the order, or for counting ballots as the law requires. What happens after November 16 will depend on the November 13 hearing and any further court action.

Context and what to watch

Timing is everything in this order. US District Judge Trina Thompson of the Northern District of California issued a temporary restraining order on Friday, 30 October 2026 — days before the 3 November midterms — barring the Justice Department from threatening election workers with prosecution for refusing certain demands, and from demanding voter purges, ballot refusals or ballot segregation solely on the basis of the administration's allegation that a voter is ineligible. The case is Service Employees International Union v. US Department of Justice, and the order's purpose is to hold the position through the election rather than to decide the lawsuit.

That temporary character is the key to what happens next. The order is due to expire on 16 November, with a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for 13 November — after the election, when the court will consider whether to extend the protection. The California and Washington ballot counts and the Monday response deadline in the reporting come from court-order reporting rather than the Reuters core report, so they are attributed as such in the text. Watch the 13 November hearing above all: it will decide whether this emergency protection becomes a longer-lasting one.

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