Ninth Circuit vacates ruling that allowed DOJ to threaten election officials

The full Ninth Circuit vacated a three-judge panel ruling that had briefly allowed the Trump administration to threaten state and local election officials with criminal prosecution over ballot handling on the eve of the November 3, 2026 midterm election. The panel had voted 2-1 to pause a lower-court order finding that Department of Justice letters demanding officials segregate thousands of ballots from suspected noncitizens likely violated federal voter intimidation law. Judges Carlos Bea and Consuelo Callahan formed the majority, with Mary Murguia dissenting.¹

A majority of all Ninth Circuit appellate judges then voted to vacate that panel ruling and take up the DOJ's stay request themselves.¹