Oh, no. According to court papers filed on Friday, California election officials say that the Trump administration's legal "threats" to their ballot-counting process are having profound consequences on their mental health. Yes, the Trump administration has "threatened" to review California's voter rolls against federal databases to identify noncitizens registered to vote. As NBC News reported on Friday, Judge Jeb Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to turn over its list of 20,000 alleged noncitizen registrants in California to "immigrant rights groups" by the end of the day.
Election officials in California described the Trump administration's legal threats as having profound consequences on their mental health and their ability to do their jobs, according to court papers filed on Friday. https://t.co/peduwGAY9w
— ABC News (@ABC) October 31, 2026
Lucien Bruggeman reports for ABC News:
Election officials in California described the Trump administration's legal threats as having profound consequences on their mental health and their ability to do their jobs, according to court papers filed on Friday.
The Justice Department issued grand jury subpoenas to local election officials in California this week as part of its criminal investigation into the state's voter rolls.
Matt Morales, the top election official in Santa Clara County, said in the court documents that "the federal government's conduct has had and continues to have a severe chilling effect on my staff and me."
In Contra Costa County, registrar Kristin Connelly said she feels "deeply frustrated and stressed because of having to spend so much energy on responding to this threat."
When Homeland Security officials delivered a letter threatening him with prosecution last week, San Benito County Registrar Francisco Diaz said he "felt fear and anxiety."
…
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Justice Department from threatening state and local election officials.
U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued a temporary restraining order through Nov. 16. as part of the lawsuit filed late Thursday by a coalition of civil rights groups and labor unions, including one that represents election workers in California.
That's right. Also on Friday, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from threatening or intimidating election officials.
JUST IN: Federal judge blocks Trump administration from threatening or intimidating election officials across the country ahead of the midterms. https://t.co/7NG3qZUyfd
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 31, 2026
Gary Grumbach and Kyla Guilfoil reported for NBC News on Friday:
The eight-page order prohibits any action that may “threaten, intimidate or coerce state or local elections officials or workers to demand that they halt processing the ballots of any registered voter solely on the basis that the ballot belongs to an individual alleged by [the administration] to be ineligible to vote.”
U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson, who’s based in California, wrote, “In the lead-up to the election, high-ranking DOJ and DHS officials have engaged in a campaign to intimidate, threaten, and coerce state and local officials and employees who are engaged in administering the ongoing midterm 2026 election.”
Interestingly, Grumbach is the same reporter who let us know earlier, as Doug reported, that the majority of noncitizen voters charged by the Justice Department are in the United States lawfully, as if that made a difference.
Majority of noncitizen voters charged by DOJ are lawfully in U.S. https://t.co/vWcI3Wfe9h
— Gary Grumbach (@GaryGrumbach) November 1, 2026
Let's see if there's any sympathy for these poor election officials and their suffering mental health.
@ABC Yes, I'm sure it's very stressful for those who commit voter fraud to know that they will go prison for their crimes.
— NewsieOne (@NewsieOne) November 2, 2026
@ABC The fact my vote is cancelled out by illegals damages my mental health. Maybe I should just stop paying taxes until the state validates my emotional state.
— RangerSyl (@RangerSyl) November 1, 2026
@ABC Good Lord. 🙄 If you can’t handle being an election official, RESIGN. And if you commit voter fraud, you’ll get prosecuted, and go to jail. That’s the way it should be.
— Sylvia Quinn (@quinn31960) October 31, 2026
@ABC My mental health and ability to do my job would be bad too if I was stupid enough to cheat knowing Trump was legally watching me cheat.
— County MAGA (@ShaBacksTheBlue) November 1, 2026
@ABC I don’t think that someone being stressed out at work should exempt them from following federal election law
— Kane 謝凱堯 (@kane) November 1, 2026
@ABC Good. I voted specifically for this.
— The Dank Knight 🦇 (@capeandcowell) November 1, 2026
@ABC Thoughts and prayers to the California election officials currently undergoing trauma therapy over a legal document.
— mzpincali (@mzpincali) November 1, 2026
@ABC Awww...we should just allow election fraud because looking into fraud makes the fraudsters sad
— August West 🇺🇸 (@RondureGyre) November 1, 2026
@ABC Being told that committing crimes could lead to jail time is supposed to be stressful.
— Matt Barber (@ThatMattBarber) November 1, 2026
@ABC "We weren't trained to actually follow the law, it's scary."
— Shrike Decil (@Shrike_DeCil) November 1, 2026
@ABC "I'm so stressed because I don't know how to do the job without committing fraud!"
— Matilda (@cheesewame) November 1, 2026
@ABC It's going to get much worse for their "mental health" if they don't sequester those illegal voters
— Steve Brown (@J_Steve_Brown) November 1, 2026
@ABC @ABC Aren’t people who consider committing crimes supposed to feel anxious, and be aware of the profound circumstances of violating the law?
— Auntie Alice 朱姨姨 (@AuntieAliceCY) November 1, 2026
@ABC If they facilitate illegal voting after the feds specifically identified likely illegal votes, they'll have lots of time in prison with free access to mental health professionals to work things out.
— Rick Saunders (@twobenjamins) November 1, 2026
@ABC Telling California election officials to follow the law hurts their mental health. That’s where we’re at folks.
— Steve Grant (@SteveGrant1862) November 1, 2026
They're not mentally up to the job of making sure only eligible voters' ballots are counted. Sorry, that's the job. Step aside if you're too feeble to handle it.
Note all the judges jumping in on Friday, still trying to block election-integrity efforts. The cheating never quits.
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Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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