Federal judge blocks Trump administration's election pressure tactics in sweeping emergency order

A federal judge on Friday (Oct 30) imposed a sweeping emergency order halting various aggressive tactics employed by the Trump administration in recent days to pressure election officials across the country. "Although Defendants claim that their actions are designed to halt unlawful voting by noncitizens, their actions are likely to have the effect of interfering with election administration and disenfranchising lawful voters," US District Judge Trina Thompson said in her opinion granting a temporary restraining order Friday evening.

Trump admin cannot demand non-counting of votes

She said, while her order is in place, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security cannot demand that election officials in any state segregate ballots, purge voters from voter rolls, or halt ballot processing. Thompson, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, is also blocking threats of criminal prosecutions against election officials from those agencies and said that the administration cannot take other actions that "threaten, intimidate or coerce" election officials to demand changes in ballot processing procedures on claims the voters are ineligible.

A rebuke of the Trump's claims

Thompson's opinion rebuked claims the administration has made for months that it can and will prosecute election officials for not doing enough to prevent illegal voting.

"When state and local government employees perform the work of distributing, processing, or counting ballots or otherwise administering the 2026 midterm election" in accordance with the law, "they do not violate federal criminal law even if a particular ballot belongs to a registered voter alleged by Defendants to be ineligible to vote," she wrote.

She is also requiring the administration to inform her of any "search warrant applications, grand jury subpoenas, or other demands to access election materials or ballots" that have been issued related to lists the administration has created to allege individuals are ineligible to vote. The judge set her order to expire November 16.