Federal appeals court lifts block on Trump administration election demands to state officials

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on November 3, 2026 lifted U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson's October 30, 2026 temporary restraining order that had blocked the Justice Department from demanding state officials in California and Washington segregate ballots from roughly 20,000 suspected noncitizens. The NAACP filed suit on October 29, 2026 challenging the DOJ demands. The Supreme Court separately rejected DOJ's emergency California request on November 2, 2026.

9th Circuit en banc ruling

• ▪The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a judge's order restricting the Trump administration's demands that election officials segregate ballots from suspected noncitizens
• ▪A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit on November 2, 2026 initially paused U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson's October 30, 2026 order before the appeals court vacated that decision and agreed to reconsider the case over DOJ ballot segregation demands
• ▪The 9th Circuit en banc panel's November 3, 2026 decision suspended restrictions on ballot segregation demands imposed by U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson
• ▪Circuit Judges Carlos Bea and Consuelo Callahan are both appointees of former President George W. Bush
• ▪The 9th Circuit en banc panel's November 3, 2026 decision does not force California or Washington to segregate any mail ballots or determine whether any individual voter is ineligible

DOJ ballot segregation demands

• ▪The Justice Department sought to have election officials in California and Washington set aside ballots associated with people federal officials suspect are noncitizens until their citizenship can be verified
• ▪Labor unions and civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, filed suit contending that the Trump administration is using prosecution threats to force changes to state election procedures
• ▪Labor unions and civil rights organizations contended that the Trump administration's ballot segregation demands risk disenfranchising eligible voters
• ▪The Justice Department maintains that it is enforcing federal prohibitions on noncitizen voting

District court ex parte order

• ▪U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson concluded that the NAACP and other challengers were likely to succeed under the Voting Rights Act's prohibition on intimidation
• ▪U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued a temporary restraining order on October 30, 2026 on an ex parte basis, without first giving the government an opportunity to respond
• ▪U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson is a Biden appointee in the Northern District of California
• ▪U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson's October 30, 2026 order restricted federal demands to remove registered voters, withhold ballots, or segregate or refuse to count ballots solely because federal officials alleged voter ineligibility
• ▪U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson's October 30, 2026 order restricted prosecution threats related to DOJ's ballot segregation demands

Voting Rights Act legal questions

• ▪U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson concluded that the NAACP and other challengers were likely to succeed under the Voting Rights Act's prohibition on intimidation
• ▪Former Trump DOJ attorney Abhi Kambli argued that the NAACP and other challengers faced a threshold problem over whether private plaintiffs could sue under the Voting Rights Act provision they invoked
• ▪Former Trump DOJ attorney Abhi Kambli argued that recognizing a Voting Rights Act intimidation claim against the executive branch presented a particularly heavy burden