// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Judge orders Trump administration to stop threatening US election officials
A federal judge has ordered the federal government to stop threatening local and state election officials with criminal charges over their role in processing election ballots.
The California judge ruled that the Department of Justice (DoJ) must stop demanding that local and state election officials set aside or not process certain ballots that the Trump administration alleges may come from non-citizens.
The ruling comes days before the midterm elections, which will determine which political party controls the US Congress for the last two years of Donald Trump's presidency.
Trump criticised the ruling on Saturday, writing,"Why would they reject fixing Election Fraud?"
In California earlier this month, the justice department sent letters to the secretary of state and Los Angeles County Registrar demanding they set aside the ballots of 20,000 registered voters whom the Trump administration "believe" are "likely" non-citizens, according to court documents.
About a week later, armed officials from the Department of Homeland Security delivered letters to county officials and employees across California threatening criminal charges if they didn't sequester those ballots.
Trump says US voter fraud is 'rampant' - evidence suggests it is extremely rare
But the groups said they could not comply with those demands because they must follow election procedures required by state and federal law. A judge weighed in and tossed the demand, writing it would "wreak havoc" in the election.
Around the same time, the justice department reportedly began a criminal investigation into county election officials, issuing federal grand jury subpoenas.
Civil rights groups and unions representing election workers filed a legal complaint, accusing the justice department of interfering in their duty to administer the election. Judge Trina Thompson ordered the administration to halt their actions.