Elections · Sunday, November 1, 2026

Judge bars federal threats against election workers

The File desk · Nov. 1, 2026, 6:29 a.m. ET

Confirmed4 primary sources

Status

Confirmed. Judge Trina L. Thompson granted a temporary restraining order on October 30, 2026, in case . The order expires at 5:00 p.m. on November 16. The defendants filed a notice of appeal on October 31. The order does not name a time zone.

Confirmed
The order bars the Justice Department and Homeland Security from threatening election workers or demanding that registered voters be removed or that their ballots be set aside solely because the departments allege the voter is ineligible.
Confirmed
The order says its background facts are drawn from the plaintiffs' motion and complaint. The letter dates and the figure of about 20,000 California voters are in that recitation.
Confirmed
An October 31 notice says the defendants appeal the October 30 order. An October 30 notice said they were also considering a request to dissolve or modify it, or an appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

A federal judge in San Francisco ordered the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to stop threatening state and local election workers. The command, filed October 30, bars the departments from demanding that registered voters be dropped from the rolls or that their ballots be set aside solely because the departments allege a voter is ineligible. It runs until 5:00 p.m. on November 16.¹

U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson signed the order, in case , in a lawsuit brought by the Service Employees International Union and other labor and civil-rights groups. The defendants are the Justice Department, Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Department of Homeland Security, and Secretary Markwayne Mullin. A temporary restraining order is a short court command meant to hold things as they are until a fuller hearing. This one sets that hearing for November 13.¹

The order covers the departments and anyone acting with them. They may not threaten workers into halting a ballot, demand that officials remove specific registered voters, refuse those voters a ballot, or segregate ballots for the November 3 election solely because the departments allege the voter is ineligible. They must tell governments that already received such a letter that the demands are blocked. The Justice Department must also report to the court on pending search warrants, grand jury subpoenas, or other demands for election materials tied to those lists.¹

The judge wrote that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail under , the federal ban on intimidating a person for voting or for helping someone else vote, and under the , which leaves the mechanics of congressional elections to the states unless Congress changes them by law. The order says that when state and local workers process ballots as their own election laws require, they do not violate federal criminal law just because the departments allege a voter is ineligible.¹

Why it matters (Estimate). Estimate. Election Day is November 3, and the order says ballots are already being processed. The command tells federal officials to leave state and local workers to their own election rules until the November 13 hearing. It ends at 5:00 p.m. on November 16 unless the court extends it. The order does not name a time zone for those clocks. The government's written response to the request for a longer order is due at noon on Monday, November 2. The Justice Department has already filed an appeal.

The order recites the plaintiffs' account of the background: the departments sent letters about voters they called likely non-citizens, including about 20,000 California voters. Those details are the plaintiffs' allegations as the court recites them. The government filed a notice of appeal on October 31, signed by Assistant United States Attorney Kenneth J. Kao. A notice filed the evening of the order said the defendants were considering a motion to dissolve or modify the order, or an appeal to the Ninth Circuit. This desk opened both notices. It did not open a later order dissolving the command.²

How we know

What this is

Legal instrument
Order Granting Temporary Restraining Order, SEIU v. Department of Justice
On October 30, 2026, Judge Trina L. Thompson ordered the Justice Department and Homeland Security to stop threatening election workers and to stop demanding that registered voters be removed or that their ballots be set aside on an allegation of ineligibility. The order expires at 5:00 p.m. on November 16, 2026, unless the court extends it. The order does not name a time zone.
Court order, October 30, 2026
The October 30, 2026 order in the San Francisco case. It tells the Justice Department and Homeland Security to stop threatening election workers and to stop demanding that registered voters be removed or that their ballots be set aside on an allegation of ineligibility. It expires at 5:00 p.m. on November 16 unless the court extends it.
Legal instrument
Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act
A federal ban, at 52 U.S.C. § 10307(b), on intimidating, threatening, or coercing any person for voting, or for urging or helping another person to vote. A California federal judge cited it in an Oct. 21, 2026 order limiting door-to-door voter inquiries.
Northern District of California order, Oct. 21, 2026
The federal ban the judge said the departments likely violated. It bars intimidating, threatening, or coercing a person for voting, or for urging or helping another person to vote.
Legal instrument
Elections Clause
Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution lets each state set the times, places, and manner of its congressional elections, and lets Congress change those rules by law. Judge Thompson's October 30 order says the states, not the Justice Department, set the mechanics of counting those ballots.
Order of October 30, 2026
The constitutional rule the order relies on for who runs congressional elections. States set the times, places, and manner. Congress may change those rules by law. The order says the departments went past that line.

Notes

1.United States District Court for the Northern District of California,
Legal instrument
Order Granting Temporary Restraining Order, SEIU v. Department of Justice
On October 30, 2026, Judge Trina L. Thompson ordered the Justice Department and Homeland Security to stop threatening election workers and to stop demanding that registered voters be removed or that their ballots be set aside on an allegation of ineligibility. The order expires at 5:00 p.m. on November 16, 2026, unless the court extends it. The order does not name a time zone.
Court order, October 30, 2026
, Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, et al. v. United States Department of Justice, et al., Case No. 26-cv-12800-TLT, Document 26, filed October 30, 2026, signed by Trina L. Thompson. The electronic stamp reads Case
Legal instrument
Order Granting Temporary Restraining Order, SEIU v. Department of Justice
On October 30, 2026, Judge Trina L. Thompson ordered the Justice Department and Homeland Security to stop threatening election workers and to stop demanding that registered voters be removed or that their ballots be set aside on an allegation of ineligibility. The order expires at 5:00 p.m. on November 16, 2026, unless the court extends it. The order does not name a time zone.
Court order, October 30, 2026
. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.482447/gov.uscourts.cand.482447.26.0_1.pdf The order grants the plaintiffs' motion. It expires at 5:00 p.m. on November 16, 2026. Defendants' papers responding to the preliminary-injunction request are due no later than noon on Monday, November 2, 2026. Plaintiffs' optional reply is due November 5, 2026, by noon. The preliminary-injunction hearing is November 13, 2026, at 11 a.m. in Department 9, 19th Floor. The order does not label a time zone. Defendants named in the opening: United States Department of Justice, Attorney General Todd Blanche, United States Department of Homeland Security, and Secretary Markwayne Mullin. The order says the background is drawn from the plaintiffs' ex parte motion and complaint. In that recitation: Election Day is November 3, 2026; letters on October 13, 2026, demanded that California officials sequester ballots of approximately 20,000 registered voters the defendants "believe" are "likely" non-citizens; letters on October 23, 2026, went to county officials and, the complaint says, were delivered by armed Homeland Security officials; a letter on October 26, 2026, went to the State of Washington. Docket page: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75045414/service-employees-international-union-afl-cio-v-united-states-department/
2.Defendants' notice of appeal, Document 31, filed October 31, 2026, signed by Kenneth J. Kao, Assistant United States Attorney, for Craig H. Missakian, United States Attorney. The caption reads Case No.
Legal instrument
Order Granting Temporary Restraining Order, SEIU v. Department of Justice
On October 30, 2026, Judge Trina L. Thompson ordered the Justice Department and Homeland Security to stop threatening election workers and to stop demanding that registered voters be removed or that their ballots be set aside on an allegation of ineligibility. The order expires at 5:00 p.m. on November 16, 2026, unless the court extends it. The order does not name a time zone.
Court order, October 30, 2026
. "PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Defendants hereby appeal the Court's October 30, 2026 Order, see Dkt. 26." The two pages do not name the court of appeals. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.482447/gov.uscourts.cand.482447.31.0.pdf Defendants' notice of intent, Document 30, filed October 30, 2026, says they intend to seek relief from the order by October 31, 2026, either by a motion under
Legal instrument
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(b)
The federal rule for a temporary restraining order, a short court command issued quickly. Rule 65(b)(4) lets the restrained side ask the same judge to dissolve or modify that order, and asks the judge to hear the request promptly. The government's October 30 notice said it was considering that request.
Government notice, October 30, 2026
to dissolve or modify it, or by an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The first page of that notice prints Case No. 5:26-cv-12800-TLT. The electronic stamp on the same PDF reads Case
Legal instrument
Order Granting Temporary Restraining Order, SEIU v. Department of Justice
On October 30, 2026, Judge Trina L. Thompson ordered the Justice Department and Homeland Security to stop threatening election workers and to stop demanding that registered voters be removed or that their ballots be set aside on an allegation of ineligibility. The order expires at 5:00 p.m. on November 16, 2026, unless the court extends it. The order does not name a time zone.
Court order, October 30, 2026
. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.482447/gov.uscourts.cand.482447.30.0.pdf

What is still unknown or disputed

Whether 5:00 p.m., 11 a.m., and noon are Pacific time or Eastern time. The order does not say. The courthouse named in the order is in San Francisco.
Whether the Ninth Circuit has acted. The October 31 notice says the defendants appeal. On the two pages, it does not name the appeals court. The October 30 notice said a Ninth Circuit appeal was one option.
Whether a motion to dissolve was filed after the October 30 notice. This desk did not open one.
The letters themselves. The dates and the figure of about 20,000 voters are in the order's recitation of the plaintiffs' filings. This desk did not open the letters.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

Source 1
Order Granting Temporary Restraining Order, Document 26
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, via CourtListener · October 30, 2026
Judge Trina L. Thompson granted the order on October 30, 2026. It expires at 5:00 p.m. on November 16, 2026. The hearing is November 13, 2026, at 11 a.m.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.482447/gov.uscourts.cand.482447.26.0_1.pdf
Source 2
Notice of appeal, Document 31
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of California, via CourtListener · October 31, 2026
Defendants appeal the court's October 30, 2026 order. Kenneth J. Kao signed the notice on October 31, 2026.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.482447/gov.uscourts.cand.482447.31.0.pdf
Source 3
Notice of intent to seek relief from the order, Document 30
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of California, via CourtListener · October 30, 2026
Defendants said they might move to dissolve or modify the order, or appeal to the Ninth Circuit, by October 31, 2026.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.482447/gov.uscourts.cand.482447.30.0.pdf
Source 4
Docket, SEIU v. Department of Justice, 3:26-cv-12800
CourtListener · October 31, 2026
The docket lists the October 30 order granting the temporary restraining order and the October 31 notice of appeal.
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75045414/service-employees-international-union-afl-cio-v-united-states-department/

Judge bars federal threats against election workers

Notes

What is still unknown or disputed

Primary sources

Order Granting Temporary Restraining Order, Document 26

Notice of appeal, Document 31

Notice of intent to seek relief from the order, Document 30

Docket, SEIU v. Department of Justice, 3:26-cv-12800