U.S. District Judge for the Central District of California David Carter denied on Oct. 28 the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request for a temporary restraining order that would have forced California and Los Angeles County to stop the tabulation of vote-by-mail ballots from approximately 20,000 people on a federal list of “likely noncitizens” until their citizenship was verified. The order concluded that DOJ probably lacks both standing and a cause of action. It added that the relief DOJ sought would likely conflict with the National Voter Registration Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Civil Rights Act. Judge Carter called the “likely noncitizens” list’s methodology unreliable and rebuked DOJ letters warning county officials of federal scrutiny, writing “these threats must stop.”
Related Just Security coverage: Dissecting DOJ’s Letter to California Election Officials: Empty Threats of Criminal Liability; The Trump Administration’s Strategy for Reshaping Elections; Collection: Just Security 2026 Midterm Election Analysis and Commentary
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