An order issued within hours
A federal judge in California late on Friday barred the Justice Department from threatening or coercing election officials who are processing midterm ballots. Judge Trina Thompson of the Northern District of California issued an eight-page temporary restraining order responding to a suit filed the same day by labour unions representing election workers. The order came without the department having argued its side, an unusual step that reflects the urgency of a count already under way.
Thompson wrote that senior officials at the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security had run "a campaign to intimidate, threaten, and coerce" state and local staff administering the election. The order blocks any demand that officials halt the processing of a ballot on the grounds that the voter is alleged, without a court finding, to be ineligible.
A third defeat over 20,000 ballots
The ruling capped a difficult week for the administration in court. On Wednesday a different California federal judge refused to compel the state to set aside more than 20,000 ballots that the government says may have been cast by non-citizens, finding the request would violate constitutional rules that leave election administration to the states. An appeals court rejected the same request on Friday. The Justice Department had also sent subpoenas and letters to local officials, which the unions said amounted to pressure to stop counting.
Four days before voting ends
Election Day is Tuesday. Millions of ballots are already being opened and verified in county offices, and the practical effect of the order is to keep that work moving without officials second-guessing individual envelopes. The department has not said whether it will appeal. Voting rights groups called the order a guardrail. Supporters of the ballot review called it judicial overreach. Both sides now wait for the count, and for any sign of how the dispute shapes turnout in the final days.