Try and Stop Us Digest — October 20, 2026

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Trump's DOJ Raids California Homes Over Their Unverified "Noncitizen" List

DOJ launched statewide raids in California, arresting 11 people and charging 28 green-card holders, all drawn from its unverified list of 20,000 “likely noncitizens.” Associated Press / Los Angeles Times / Democracy Docket / Democracy Docket: Dozens of agents arrested 72-year-old Omar Muñoz, who is accused of voting illegally in four elections, at his home in Commerce before dawn, in tactical gear with guns drawn, his wife says, with helicopters overhead and media brought along for the raid. He appeared in court shackled, still in the pajama pants he was arrested in, and his family is trying to find out whether he was confused with younger relatives of the same name, including a U.S.-born son who is a registered voter. Gov. Gavin Newsom pointed out that Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, "admitted in front of the press that not all of those arrested today may have voted." Democracy Docket's review of DOJ's case descriptions found that 22 of the 28 are explicitly accused of casting a ballot, amounting to roughly 25 to 27 allegedly illegal votes out of more than 45 million cast in the last three general elections.

DOJ asked a federal court Monday to immediately bar California from counting ballots from 20,000 people it alleges, without evidence, are noncitizens. Democracy Docket / Associated Press: The emergency motion for a temporary restraining order is the latest escalation after DOJ sent California a thumb drive with a hand-scrawled password on a sticky note, gave it 48 hours to validate the names, then sued when the state refused. DOJ wants the order in time for Nov. 3. It has itself said it is "not practicable or feasible for the Federal Government to prosecute thousands, let alone tens of thousands" of the people it flagged, and its filing calls the 20,000 names "the floor of potential noncitizen California voters." DOJ has lost every lawsuit it has filed to force states to hand over their voter rolls, and 29 other states have also refused.

Election Officials Say The Federal Government Has Left Them On Their Own

Trump appointees at DHS asked the federal cybersecurity agency to secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it. ProPublica: The request came a few months into Trump's second term, according to two former administration officials, and the findings were to be passed to the White House. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was also directed not to alert the machine's maker if it found flaws, and one former official said: "My thought was they could keep it in their back pocket to invalidate any [election] results they don't like." It was never carried out, in part because the agents who could have done it had just been laid off by DOGE. The administration has laid off or pushed out more than 1,000 CISA employees, about a third of the agency, and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes says it has "basically cut us off and left us on our own."

Election officials in both parties say the federal government has become a threat to election security, not a partner. Politico / CNN: Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) said: "Our number one risk at this point is the federal government," and federal officials will not be welcome in the state's Cyber Command Center. Wesley Wilcox (R), supervisor of elections in Marion County, Florida, said there is "no sort of level of trust or anything else at this point in time" between his office and federal partners. On Thursday, Oct. 15, the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence postponed the first classified briefing for state election officials on foreign threats since the 2024 election after their video call failed. One person on the call said: "Glad they don't run the election."

Federal Pressure On Election Officials Keeps Escalating

Utah's Republican lieutenant governor says DOJ has put her under investigation, and DOJ's civil rights chief won't rule out challenging a state's entire vote count. CBS News: Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, who runs Utah's elections, told 60 Minutes that DOJ informed her in writing last month that she is under investigation. She had refused to hand over confidential voter data, and says the threats to elections now come from "within our own government." Asked by CBS's Lesley Stahl whether DOJ could rule out challenging an entire state's vote count, Harmeet Dhillon, who heads DOJ's Civil Rights Division, could not: "I don't know what is going to happen."

Voters Will Decide A Record Number Of Election Measures This November

Voters will decide a record 39 election-related ballot measures this November, including six on voter ID. Votebeat: Of the 145 ballot measures on ballots nationwide, 39 deal with how elections are run, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Voters have approved 10 of the 13 voter ID measures put to them since 2004. Arizona’s Proposition 144 would require ID to vote in person or by mail and polls well, but the ACLU of Arizona warns it could make voting by mail harder in a state where most people vote that way. Missouri, Colorado and Maryland voters will also decide redistricting measures, and Missouri’s Proposition A, on the Republican legislature’s new congressional map, is polling evenly split.

In The States

CALIFORNIA — California's voter ID measure is losing, 51% to 42%, among likely voters.. Politico: Proposition 39 would require ID at polling places and add the last few digits of an ID number to mail-in ballots. Eighty percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are opposed, while 92% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are in favor, and independents lean slightly yes, 45% to 41%. Gov. Gavin Newsom, co-chair of one of the "No" committees, calls it "a ploy by Trump's billionaire allies to make it harder to vote and easier to throw out valid ballots."

MINNESOTA — Mike Lindell, who lost the Republican primary for governor plans to sue three voting machine companies before the election. Minnesota Star Tribune: The MyPillow founder, who lost the gubernatorial primary to Lisa Demuth by 45,000 votes, says he will sue ES&S, Hart Verity and Dominion Voting Systems, now called Liberty Vote. He claims data he obtained through the Freedom of Information Act shows "all kinds of anomalies that are impossible if it wasn't for computers," and says Minnesota should lead the nation with hand-counted paper ballots. Several voting machine companies have already sued him for defamation over his 2020 claims. He initially refused to concede to Demuth, then announced an $825,000 recount bid that the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected after Chief Justice Natalie Hudson signed an order saying he declined to pay.

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors in upstate New York charged five green-card holders with illegally voting, and one says the state registered her automatically at the DMV. Albany Times Union: The five, from Albany, Ballston Spa, Clifton Park, Glens Falls and Tupper Lake, are charged with voting as an alien, a misdemeanor, and a DOJ official told Reuters the push is a "tier-one priority" for the White House and Attorney General Todd Blanche. A 51-year-old British woman from Ballston Spa, who had applied for citizenship, says she was registered automatically when she paid fees at the DMV and "wasn't aware that what I was doing was wrong."

TEXAS — On the first day of early voting in Texas, a top federal prosecutor warned voters and election officials: "If you violate federal election law, I will hunt you down and prosecute you." New York Times / Democracy Docket: U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz posted the video Monday, as early voting began in a Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico that could decide control of the chamber. He said he is assisting federal election monitors at "key" polling places and coordinating with the FBI, DHS and DOJ's Civil Rights Division to "surge legal resources where we need them most." Emily Eby French, policy director at Common Cause Texas, said the "posturing is intended to scare voters out of using their legal right to vote," and that "surge" "raises the specter of ICE at the polls, which is also illegal."