Election officials in California described the Trump administration’s legal threats as having profound consequences on their mental health and their ability to do their jobs, according to court papers filed on Friday.
The Justice Department issued grand jury subpoenas to local election officials in California this week as part of its criminal investigation into the state’s voter rolls.
Matt Morales, the top election official in Santa Clara County, said in the court documents that “the federal government’s conduct has had and continues to have a severe chilling effect on my staff and me.”
In Contra Costa County, registrar Kristin Connelly said she feels “deeply frustrated and stressed because of having to spend so much energy on responding to this threat.”
When Homeland Security officials delivered a letter threatening him with prosecution last week, San Benito County Registrar Francisco Diaz said he “felt fear and anxiety.”
“I did not know whether I might be arrested or what might happen next,” Diaz said. “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.”
These declarations, filed as part of a bid to encourage a federal judge to halt the Justice Department’s threats, represented the first extensive commentary from local election leaders since the Justice Department warned them of criminal liability.
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Justice Department from threatening state and local election officials.
U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued a temporary restraining order through Nov. 16. as part of the lawsuit filed late Thursday by a coalition of civil rights groups and labor unions, including one that represents election workers in California.
The Justice Department “shall not threaten, intimidate or coerce state or local elections officials or workers to demand that they halt processing the ballots of any registered voter solely on the basis that the ballot belongs to an individual alleged by [DOJ] to be ineligible to vote,” she wrote in her eight-page order.
The election officials described DOJ threats in their court papers not only as a source of personal anxiety, but as a distraction. It has forced their offices to prepare contingencies for more interference by the Trump administration as Election Day approaches, according to the officials.
Morales, of Santa Clara County, said that “training for election workers and volunteers had to be updated to address de-escalation and safety protocols in the event of a disruption caused by law enforcement or federal agent activities in or around a vote center.”
The Trump administration’s actions could also prevent election offices from performing their duties, election officials warned. Multiple officials said they feared that volunteers and staff would quit, making the work of accurately counting votes more difficult.
“Such interference is likely to prove immensely disruptive to county election procedures, including the timely tabulation and certification of results,” Morales said.
Connelly, of Contra Costa County, said she feels “horrified at the prospect that my staff may leave their positions because of these threats.”
In San Benito County, “four of our poll workers did not report to work” on Friday, according to Diaz.
“I believe that additional stress and anxiety could have contributed to these absences,” Diaz said.
The administration hasn’t immediately commented on the court filing.
The DOJ previously said in a statement it wouldn’t comment on the grand jury subpoenas, but said while it “maintains that a civil remedy is still available, all agree that noncitizen voting is properly addressed through criminal law.”
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