California governor urges courts to resist Trump ballot seizure attempts

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday urged federal courts to be prepared for the possibility that President Donald Trump's administration may attempt to seize ballots during the upcoming midterm elections.

Newsom, a Democrat, issued the warning in a letter to federal judges as the state faces a legal dispute with the administration, which has demanded California's records as part of a criminal investigation into alleged non-citizen voting. On Friday, a U.S. appeals court rejected the administration's request, potentially setting the stage for a showdown at the Supreme Court.

In a separate lawsuit, a federal judge ordered the Department of Justice to stop threatening legal action against state and local election officials in California who refuse to comply with the administration's election-related demands.

Newsom wrote, "In light of the Department of Justice's insistence on pursuing this unfounded theory of criminal liability, I am deeply concerned that federal agents may seek search warrants to seize ballots and related materials before election results are certified."

He told federal judges that the only purpose for using search warrants would be to interfere with "the lawful counting of ballots and certification of election results" in the state.

The U.S. Constitution gives states authority over election administration, but the Trump administration has claimed that more than 20,000 non-citizens are registered to vote in California, a claim the state and many experts have questioned. The Department of Justice has not clarified how many people on its list actually cast ballots.

California argued that the Justice Department's allegations were based on "questionable data," and warned that complying with the demands could disenfranchise eligible voters.