Donald Trump Expands Hunt for Noncitizen Voters With 100+ Subpoenas in 13 States as Judge David Carter Blocks Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Ballots
President Donald Trump has expanded a federal hunt for noncitizen voters days before the 2026 midterm elections, with his administration issuing more than 100 subpoenas demanding voter records covering tens of thousands of people in at least 13 states — while a federal judge in California has blocked a parallel Justice Department bid to set aside 20,000 ballots.
According to Reuters reporting published October 29, 2026, most of the subpoenas went to state and local election officials in the past three months, although some date to the start of the year, and many had not previously been reported. The effort, the reporting says, is broader than what was publicly known.
What the administration is seeking — and what critics warn
It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in U.S. federal elections. Legal experts cited in the reporting say the records obtained through the subpoenas could be used to contest results in close midterm races, despite scant evidence that voting by noncitizens is widespread.
The push comes less than a week before Election Day on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, when voters will decide control of Congress and state offices across the country. The administration has argued that stricter checks are needed to ensure public confidence in the vote; critics argue that last-minute federal intervention risks confusing voters and election officials.
Judge David Carter blocks the California ballot bid
In California, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter declined to order state election officials to segregate ballots from people the Justice Department claimed were noncitizens. The department had based its emergency request on a list of California voters it said it had purchased and cross-referenced with other government data.
Judge Carter ruled that the proposal would undermine the state's authority to run its own elections and relied on allegations that were not sufficiently reliable to justify withholding votes. He warned that the move could discourage both voters and election workers from participating, creating what he called a chilling effect on election workers and voters and discounting the votes of United States citizens.
The Justice Department, which filed the California lawsuit on October 15, is expected to appeal. An earlier attempt by the department to bypass Judge Carter and seek an expedited review by an appellate court failed earlier in the week.
A separate ruling on who watches the polls
In a separate filing late Wednesday, the Justice Department told a federal court that agents and employees of the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will not serve as monitors during the midterm elections. The filing came in a case brought by the civil rights organization NAACP, which argued that the administration's plans amounted to voter intimidation.
According to that filing, election monitors will mainly observe polling places and take notes, will be prohibited from carrying firearms, and have been trained not to interfere with voting and to follow state and local rules. Employees of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will serve as monitors, the department said — but no FBI or ICE employees will.
What happens next
No court has found widespread noncitizen voting, and no ballots have been thrown out as a result of the subpoena campaign or the California case. What the subpoenas produce — and whether the Justice Department's appeal succeeds — could shape how close races are contested after November 3.
For now, the two tracks tell the story of the final days of the campaign: a federal government pressing states for voter data at an unprecedented pace, and judges insisting that states, not Washington, run their elections.