California ballot fight: why courts blocked the DOJ twice before the midterms

A federal judge in California ordered the Department of Justice to stop threatening local and state election officials with criminal charges over how they process ballots, and to stop demanding that officials set aside or refuse to process certain ballots. The order landed days before the midterm elections.

The dispute centers on letters the Justice Department sent to California's secretary of state and the Los Angeles County Registrar. Those letters demanded the officials set aside the ballots of 20,000 registered voters the administration said it believed were likely non-citizens. The administration has not established that those voters are non-citizens; it described them as likely.

The district court blocked the department's attempt on October 28, 2026. Two days later, on October 30, the Ninth Circuit rejected the administration's effort for a second time.

President Trump criticized the ruling on Saturday, writing, "Why would they reject fixing Election Fraud?"

The order constrains federal pressure on election administrators at the moment when officials are processing ballots and making certification decisions. It also sets up a continuing legal conflict over whether the administration can force officials to set aside ballots based on citizenship data that the Campaign Legal Center describes as faulty and incomplete. The group says there is no credible evidence the list of allegedly ineligible voters is accurate or reliable, and that it was built using a shoddy and opaque methodology.

A federal court has now twice blocked the administration's attempt to set aside 20,000 California ballots, and the president has publicly objected.