Try and Stop Us Digest — October 16, 2026

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Trump Administration Sues California In Bid To Squash Ballots It Claims Went To Thousands Of Noncitizens

DOJ sued to stop California from counting mail ballots from about 20,000 people on a DHS “likely noncitizen” list, while telling the court it is “not practicable or feasible” for DOJ to investigate that many people itself. New York Times / Democracy Docket: The suit itself says DHS built the list with third-party software that produces “high-, medium- or low- confidence matches,” and DOJ calls the people on it only “likely” noncitizens. L.A. County got the list on a thumb drive the afternoon of Oct. 13 with a 9 a.m. PDT Oct. 15 deadline, and Secretary of State Shirley Weber, whose office never received the list, told DOJ: “This is an emergency of the DOJ's creation.” Last month, Nevada officials checked a DHS list of 185 supposed noncitizens and found every person on it was a lawful citizen, and the administration has lost resoundingly in its earlier suits over voter rolls. David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation and Research said the timing of the suit raises questions: “I think this lawsuit is going to have some very serious problems, and raises questions about what the reason is for D.O.J.'s timing.”

California officials vowed to fight the suit, with Gov. Gavin Newsom calling it a “sad, desperate attempt” to suppress voters and Attorney General Rob Bonta saying the state will respond in court, not comply. New York Times / KRCR: Newsom said: “This is a sad, desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day.” Bonta called the suit part of an “ongoing, dangerous, reckless, scorched-earth, widespread attempt to advance conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud that doesn't exist.” Secretary of State Weber's letter to DOJ said the data it sent “lacks both the detail and function to be of any investigative use.”

Democrats Warn DOJ's California Demand Could Be A Setup To Seize Ballots

Democrats told a federal court that DOJ's 48-hour California ultimatum "appears to be a plausible threat that DOJ will attempt to engage in warrant-based ballot seizure." Democracy Docket: The warning came in a new filing in the DNC's Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, which seeks records on any plans to seize ballots, voting machines or other election materials after its requests went unanswered for five months. DOJ's Criminal Division told the DNC in early October that its continued search yielded "no responsive records," but Democrats say the letter from acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter, who oversees that division, appears to dispute that. They asked the court to order the Criminal Division to disclose how it searched and to run new searches on "potential actions to seize ballots in states that do not comply with last-minute DOJ demands."

Trump Is Laying The Groundwork To Contest The Midterms, Election Officials Fear

Trump and his allies across the government are systematically spreading unsubstantiated claims about election integrity, and election officials fear they will use them to contest results that don't favor Republicans. New York Times: Sen. Mark Warner says "President Trump will use any tool, legal or not, to try and make sure he gets the results he wants this year," and has asked business leaders, former military leaders and veteran law enforcement officials to stand up to Trump if he contests the results. Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed this summer that 278,000 noncitizens are registered to vote, a claim the government "has not been able to substantiate." DOJ plans 1,000 monitors in all 50 states, and the NAACP is suing for information about the deployment. In Wyoming's August primary, two DOJ monitors tried to interview voters and examine voting machines, which Republican Gov. Mark Gordon called "aggressive, unexpected, disruptive." At an Alaska rally this week, Trump called ranked-choice voting a "way to cheat" and said he had told the U.S. attorney there to monitor vote tallies.

Voting Rights Groups Sue To Force DHS To Delete Voter Records It Gathered From At Least 47 States

The League of Women Voters, EPIC and LULAC sued to have DHS's collection of voter records declared illegal and the data deleted, including 50.6 million records ICE received from DOJ. Democracy Docket: The groups allege DHS has obtained voter records from at least 47 states over the past year and a half, and say "DHS has no authority to stockpile voter data for a nationwide election-law dragnet." ICE received another 48.4 million voter records from "independent sources of information" connected to Heather Honey, a longtime promoter of false election conspiracy theories who is now a senior DHS official. The administration has run millions of records through a flawed DHS citizenship-status database that "has routinely flagged eligible voters — particularly naturalized citizens — as noncitizens." That is the machinery behind the California list: DOJ used DHS's audit of the state's voter roll to challenge about 20,000 voters in court, and it has not charged any of them with a crime.

Suspicious White Powder Letters Hit Election Offices In Multiple States

Election offices in multiple states received letters containing a white powdery substance this week, and the FBI says it is working to identify whoever sent them. CNN: Election offices in Louisiana and Oklahoma were evacuated Tuesday, and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said his office was the "intended recipient" of a letter the Postal Service intercepted. The Senate Sergeant at Arms says suspicious letters also went to multiple congressional offices, including Sen. Alex Padilla's, which USPS intercepted, though it is unclear whether the two sets are linked. No one was harmed. The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors said "threats against election officials and workers have no place in our democracy," and powder-containing packages also reached election officials in at least six states weeks before the 2024 election.

Court Reinstates Nonprofits' Right To Register New Citizens At Naturalization Ceremonies

A federal judge reinstated the decades-old policy letting nonprofits register new citizens at naturalization ceremonies, "a stinging defeat" for Trump's effort to make it harder for naturalized citizens to vote. Democracy Docket: U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson in Maryland issued a final judgment this week saying the policy was unlawful and motivated by discriminatory intent. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had limited registration at ceremonies to state and local election officials last year, and the League of Women Voters, which says it has registered hundreds of thousands of people after ceremonies, was forced to cancel events nationwide. LWV CEO Celina Stewart said the ruling "reaffirms the right of every American to help shape our democracy and ensures that the League can continue the nonpartisan voter education work we've done for generations as we welcome newly naturalized citizens into our ranks."

In The States

ARIZONA — Maricopa County's Trump-endorsed recorder asked the FBI to investigate a viral video from a Mike Lindell-backed election-denier group and both the FBI and the attorney general's office found no wrongdoing. KJZZ: The group, We the People AZ Alliance, posted a video of two people working late at the county election center, but county supervisors say the employees were authorized and were updating software on the ballot duplication system. Recorder Justin Heap's chief of staff and chief deputy filed the FBI complaint, which the bureau referred to the Arizona attorney general's office. Its Oct. 14 memo found: "Their activities were consistent with their assigned duties and responsibilities in support of the upcoming election." Supervisor Thomas Galvin wrote that "if any other public official enabled Heap's latest circus act then there's Hell to pay."

ARIZONA — Arizona election officials are war-gaming for a federal agent showing up at a polling place with a warrant, and Pima County has a judge ready to issue a restraining order. Phoenix New Times: DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said as recently as early September that ICE agents could enter polling places to make arrests, and more than 30 senators, including Arizona's Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, demanded he halt any effort to "assert federal control over and undermine public trust" in the elections. Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly says an employee of the county attorney's office would "literally" run to a judge "who is waiting to issue a restraining order." Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said: "I'm unfortunately, like everybody else, concerned that political desperation will turn into an abuse of federal law enforcement power." His office is urging voters to vote early to avoid "potential shenanigans from the federal government on Election Day."

NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina officials confirmed that voters who got letters questioning their citizenship can still vote, even if they never respond. Democracy Docket: The letters went to 1,392 registered voters flagged by the federal SAVE database, and the vague wording left unclear whether they could cast ballots before proving citizenship. State Board of Elections Executive Director Sam Hayes said a registered citizen is “perfectly entitled to go ahead and vote, and we would encourage that,” but he called the letters the “beginning of a lengthy investigatory process” and wouldn’t say how the state identified the 1,392. Gov. Josh Stein said “regular errors” make SAVE a dangerous screening tool: “What you don’t want to do is to use a database to screen out people who are actually American and have every right to vote.” When Texas used SAVE to flag 2,724 potential noncitizens last year, over 20% were later confirmed to be citizens.