DOJ Moves for Immediate Separation
The Justice Department is asking a federal court for an emergency temporary restraining order against California. The request would require state officials to immediately set aside an estimated 20,000 ballots that federal officials say were mailed to people suspected of being noncitizens. The filing comes after the DOJ warned California on Friday that election officials could face federal prosecution if they knowingly count unlawful ballots. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said federal agencies had identified more than 20,000 suspected noncitizens registered to vote who had already been mailed ballots. The key word is suspected. The DOJ is asking officials to separate the ballots while citizenship checks continue, not to skip the verification process.
Why the DOJ Says Delay Could Matter
In its emergency request, the Justice Department argued that waiting until ballots are counted could create a problem that is difficult to fix. The DOJ’s filing states, “Once illegally cast ballots are counted and commingled with lawful votes, the resulting harm may be impossible to remedy.” It also says the urgency involves the right to vote and the right to have a lawful vote counted without dilution. That is the legal reason behind the request for immediate separation. Once ballots are mixed together, identifying and removing specific ballots could become far more difficult, which is precisely the concern the DOJ placed before the court.
California Has Not Cooperated
So far, California has not agreed to the DOJ’s request to set aside the roughly 20,000 ballots while a judge considers the matter. The state argues, in part, that the federal action is a political stunt. That leaves the decision with the court, which must weigh the Justice Department’s warning against California’s refusal to separate the ballots before a ruling. Meanwhile, the DOJ has pointed to federal law, including 18 U.S.C. §§ 611 and 2, while warning that officials who knowingly tabulate unlawful ballots could face consequences for aiding and abetting a federal offense.
The Federal Case Behind the Emergency Request
The temporary restraining order request follows a broader federal lawsuit filed against California in the Central District of California on October 15. In that case, the Justice Department asked for an order preventing the tabulation of ballots belonging to people identified as likely noncitizens until their citizenship can be determined. The DOJ says Homeland Security Investigations and federal partners reviewed voter registration records and performed additional verification work to identify potential noncitizens. The emergency request asks the court to prevent those ballots from being tabulated while the citizenship questions are addressed.
The Filing Is Now Public
Matt Finn shared the emergency filing’s language in a public post, including the warning that counting and commingling the ballots could make the alleged harm impossible to remedy. The post also described the Trump administration’s request for California to immediately set aside the estimated 20,000 ballots. The DOJ’s position is clear: It wants the ballots separated before they are mixed with lawful votes, because waiting until after tabulation would make the dispute much harder to resolve.
Trump Threatens Jail for Officials Who Count
President Trump also raised the stakes on Friday, warning that California officials could face prison if they count ballots for noncitizens. His statement was direct: “They will all go to jail for a long period of time!!!” The Justice Department’s court filing and the president’s warning now frame the dispute as a fight over whether ballots identified as potentially unlawful can be counted before citizenship is verified. The court will decide what happens next.
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Breaking: the Trump Administration just filed an emergency Temporary Restraining Order against California — asking for CA to immediately set aside the estimated 20,000 ballots the Feds say were given to non-citizen voters. So far CA has not co-operated with DOJ request to set…
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) October 19, 2026
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