Credit: Tom Arthur from Orange, CA, United States
California election officials have told a federal judge that Department of Justice letters, grand jury subpoenas, and warnings of criminal liability over potential noncitizen voting have caused “severe” mental health concerns, including fear, anxiety, and poll worker no-shows, according to declarations filed last week.
The claims come as the Trump administration presses counties to address lists of voters flagged as likely noncitizens ahead of the November 3 midterms.
In court papers submitted as part of a lawsuit by unions and civil rights groups seeking to halt the DOJ’s actions, Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters Matt Moreles stated that “the federal government’s conduct has had and continues to have a severe chilling effect on my staff and me.”
Moreles described updated training for workers and volunteers on de-escalation protocols in case of law enforcement or federal agent disruptions at vote centers and warned that interference “is likely to prove immensely disruptive to county election procedures, including the timely tabulation and certification of results,” according to an ABC News report.
San Benito County Registrar Francisco Diaz said in his declaration that when Homeland Security Investigations agents hand-delivered a letter on October 23 listing 33 “suspected noncitizens,” he “felt fear and anxiety.”
“I did not know whether I might be arrested or what might happen next,” Diaz wrote.
“I had to make an emergency plan for how my office would run if I were not there. That was not a scenario we had planned for. Having to think about it made the anxiety worse, including thinking about notifying my parents and my wife.”
Diaz added that four poll workers did not report to work on Friday and that “additional stress and anxiety could have contributed to these absences.”
Diaz, whose office serves about 40,000 registered voters, is a member of the League of United Latin American Citizens and contacted a LULAC representative for support, according to the filing.
Translation: They are worried about the consequences of stealing election
— Steve Ferguson (@lsferguson) November 1, 2026
Contra Costa County’s Kristin Connelly similarly described being “deeply frustrated and stressed” by the need to respond and said she was “horrified at the prospect that my staff may leave their positions because of these threats.”
The declarations were filed in a case brought by groups including SEIU, AFSCME, the NAACP, and LULAC.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson, a Biden appointee in San Francisco, issued a temporary restraining order through November 16 barring the DOJ and Department of Homeland Security from threatening, intimidating, or coercing election officials to halt processing, segregate, or refuse ballots solely because the administration alleges the voters are ineligible.
After secretly meeting with Democrat operatives without even notifying the Trump Justice Department, San Francisco Biden Judge Trina Thompson illegally orders DOJ and DHS to stop enforcing our federal election laws–granting amnesty to illegal voters.
https://t.co/QGUgysZDk7 https://t.co/dGR5LjtyTS
— Mike Davis (@mrddmia) October 31, 2026
The order also requires notifying recipients that the prior demands and threats have been enjoined, and disclosing related subpoenas or search warrants.
Thompson found the plaintiffs likely to succeed on claims that the actions violated the Voting Rights Act’s anti-intimidation provisions and exceeded federal authority under the Elections Clause, even though the DOJ and DHS sought only to stop illegal noncitizen voters.
The DOJ has appealed.
A separate ruling by Judge David Carter earlier this week already rejected demands to segregate roughly 20,000 ballots flagged as potential noncitizen voters, saying it could cause “disruption” and a “chilling effect.”
Grand jury subpoenas have gone to officials in Los Angeles, Orange, Santa Clara, San Diego, and other counties as part of criminal probes into noncitizen voting.
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