US Justice Dept loses initial bid to block votes from alleged noncitizens in California

This comes as Trump has made California a focal point of his sweeping immigration crackdown since returning to the White House.

A US judge rejected on Wednesday a request by the Justice Department to temporarily block California from counting any mail ballots for the November 3 midterm elections received from people on a list of more than 20,000 registered voters the Trump administration alleges are likely noncitizens.

The decision marks the latest setback for President Donald Trump's effort to expand the federal government's role in elections ahead of the midterms, as his Republican Party faces a tight battle to retain control of both houses of Congress.

US District Judge David Carter issued the decision after a hearing on Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court over the Justice Department's request for a temporary restraining order barring officials from counting any ballots from the individuals it flagged.

The Justice Department filed the lawsuit on October 15, a rare intervention in the voting process weeks before an election.

California has said the state's safeguards against noncitizen voting are robust. It said the Justice Department's assertions relied on "suspect data" and that complying with its demands would risk disenfranchising eligible voters.

California judge blocks Trump bid to restrict mail-in votes

California is the most populous US state and a Democratic stronghold. It has more seats in the House of Representatives (52) than any other state.

Trump has made California a focal point of his sweeping immigration crackdown since returning to the White House, accusing it of undermining public safety through its "sanctuary state" policies that ‌limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

Trump has repeatedly insisted that states are not doing enough to stop voting by noncitizens, which he says is widespread despite multiple studies and state audits showing it is rare.

The hearing comes after a federal appeals court on Monday rejected an unusual emergency request by the Justice Department asking the appeals court to temporarily block California from counting the ballots before Carter had the chance to rule.

The Justice Department did not indicate how many of the more than 20,000 people it flagged in California had actually submitted a mail ballot.

Outside California, the Trump administration has sought to intervene in elections in two states with competitive races.

In Alaska, the Justice Department last week asked a judge to prevent certification of election results if the Republican incumbent senator loses by a slim margin, alleging that the presence of another candidate with a similar name on the ballot could confuse voters. Alaska has urged that the case be dismissed, arguing it has taken steps to distinguish the two candidates on the ballot.

In Washington state, the Justice Department sent a letter on Monday asking officials not to count ballots from 400 voters it said may not be citizens. Washington's top elections official said the timing of the request indicated it was intended to cast unfounded suspicion on election results.

State records show California had 23 million registered voters as of December 2025, while Washington had 5 million as of 2024.

Voting rights activists have expressed concern that the federal government's methods for scrutinizing state voter lists to identify noncitizen voters risk wrongly flagging naturalized citizens for removal from the rolls.