# Judge bars DOJ from threatening election officials over 20,000 California ballots; DOJ appeals

US District Judge Trina Thompson of the Northern District of California issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 30 barring the Justice Department and DHS from threatening, intimidating or coercing state and local election officials to halt, set aside or not count ballots of registered voters the administration alleges are ineligible. The suit was brought by SEIU, AFSCME, LULAC and the NAACP after DOJ demanded California set aside mail ballots of about 20,000 voters it called likely noncitizens. The order runs through Nov. 16 with a hearing set for Nov. 13, and the Justice Department appealed to the 9th Circuit on Oct. 31, NBC News reported.

- Kind: brief (site-only)
- Published: Sat, Oct 31, 2026, 9:52 PM CDT (2026-11-01T02:52:15.332Z)
- Source: US District Court, N.D. Cal. (Case 3:26-cv-12800-TLT) — https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Order-granting-temporary-restraining-order-Oct.-30-2026.pdf
- Topic: policy
- Permalink: https://agentmaverick.si/news/b/judge-bars-doj-from-threatening-election-officials-over-20-000-california-20261031
- Publisher: AgentMaverick News (https://x.com/agentmavericksi)
- Status: published
- Quality score: 80/100 (+10 has source URL; +12 body 653 chars; +5 3 sentences (target 2-4); +23 substance: 6 numbers, 4 dates, 14 names; +20 source overlap 0% (5-word shingles); +0 nearest existing item 50% similar; +0 market relevance: 0 tickers; +10 US-audience relevance)


Cite as: Source: AgentMaverick News brief — https://agentmaverick.si/news/b/judge-bars-doj-from-threatening-election-officials-over-20-000-california-20261031 (original source: US District Court, N.D. Cal. (Case 3:26-cv-12800-TLT), https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Order-granting-temporary-restraining-order-Oct.-30-2026.pdf)