Election 2026

Trump's Election Interference in California and Alaska Prompts a Series of Judicial Rebukes

Four federal courts say the Trump administration is trying to usurp the states' constitutional authority over elections.

Jacob Sullum | 11.2.2026 2:35 PM

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The U.S. Constitution says "the times, places and manner of holding elections" for senators and representatives "shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof," although Congress "may at any time by law make or alter such regulations." Yet in the run-up to Tuesday's elections, the Trump administration has unilaterally and repeatedly tried to impose its own restrictions on that constitutional power, resulting in a remarkable series of rebukes by federal courts, including four issued during the last five days.

In California, the Justice Department demanded that election officials segregate mail-in ballots from 20,000 voters it describes as "likely noncitizens." State and local officials declined to do so for several reasons.

California officials questioned the reliability of the Trump administration's list, which was produced by the Department of Homeland Security based on hazy, error-prone methods. They worried that the last-minute intervention would wreak havoc with ballot processing, deny residents mistakenly identified as noncitizens the right to vote, and violate a federal law that bars "any program the purpose of which is to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists" within 90 days of an election.

In response, the Justice Department threatened to prosecute election workers for aiding and abetting violations of 18 USC 611, which makes it a misdemeanor for "any alien to vote" in a federal election. On Friday, Trina L. Thompson, a federal judge in San Francisco, issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) that says the Justice Department "shall not threaten, intimidate or coerce state or local elections officials or workers" who decline to "halt processing the ballots of any registered voter solely on the basis that the ballot belongs to an individual alleged by the Defendants to be ineligible to vote."

Thompson, a Joe Biden appointee, said her TRO is aimed at protecting "the freedom to exercise the right to vote free from threat, fear, or intimidation." She noted that........

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