Judge Bars Trump Administration From Threatening Election Officials Over Ballots Before Midterms

A federal judge in California late Friday barred the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security from threatening election officials with criminal charges for declining to set aside ballots the administration says may come from noncitizens, days before Tuesday's midterms. U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson found the administration likely violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which bars intimidating or coercing people who help others vote. Her order also stops the agencies from pressing officials to purge voters or withhold ballots solely because voters appear on a federal suspected-noncitizen list. Election workers' unions and civil rights groups brought the suit. Court documents say the Justice Department told California officials to set aside ballots of 20,000 voters it considers likely noncitizens, and armed Homeland Security officials then delivered letters threatening charges. President Trump criticized the ruling Saturday. Separately, Alaska's attorney general's office asked a judge to reject a Justice Department demand to segregate Senate ballots, calling it inappropriate and impossible.

The Washington Post, the left-leaning outlet here, leads with the Alaska filing rather than the California ruling, featuring the attorney general's office's objection that segregating ballots is both inappropriate and not possible, which frames the story as a state resisting a federal demand. The Daily Wire, on the right, leads with the California ruling, labels Thompson a Biden-appointed judge in its headline, notes the administration's stated aim of stopping illegal voting by noncitizens, and quotes the judge on voting free from intimidation. In the portions available, both describe a Justice Department push to set aside ballots, but they differ on where they look and whom they foreground: state officials for the Post, the judge's background and the administration's rationale for the Daily Wire. BBC and Truthout, the independent outlets, add the 20,000-voter figure, the armed officers and Trump's reaction, and cast the threats as part of wider efforts to undermine elections.