Newsom Warns Federal Judges That Agents Could Seek to Seize California Ballots

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday warned the state's top federal judges that federal agents could seek search warrants to seize ballots and election records while the midterm election is underway, and asked for added care with any such request. The letter went to the chief district judges of California's four federal district courts, three days before Tuesday's midterm vote.

"I write to alert you to the risk to election integrity of judges issuing a search warrant to seize ballots, election records, or certified voting technology while an election is underway," Newsom wrote. He said he knew of no warrant application pending before the courts.

Why the governor wrote now

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, the number two official at the Justice Department, has warned state and local election officials of legal jeopardy if they do not comply with the federal government's demands, the letter recounts. Bilal Essayli, the first assistant United States attorney for the Central District of California, has threatened prosecution on social media against officials who process ballots cast by people the government says may be noncitizens. Federal grand jury subpoenas have gone to Los Angeles County election workers. Newsom noted that Judge David O. Carter, who hears the government's civil case against California, had already advised that threats to state and county employees cease immediately, and that they continued anyway.

The fight behind the letter

The Trump administration says more than 20,000 noncitizens are registered in California and has demanded state records for a criminal investigation into noncitizen voting, Reuters reported. California says the claims rest on suspect data and that complying would risk disenfranchising eligible voters. The Justice Department has not said how many people on its list have submitted ballots.

The civil cases have gone against the department. On Friday, a federal appeals court rejected its bid to force California to set aside mail ballots from the voters on its list, a ruling that could set up a fight at the Supreme Court. McCotter said on Saturday that the Supreme Court was probably next, and that any request would come before Tuesday's election. Separately, a federal judge on Friday ordered the Justice Department to stop threatening to prosecute election officials who refuse its demands. On Saturday, a filing backed by UCLA Voting Rights Project researchers reported that about 42 percent of the names on the federal list match no one on California's current voter file, and at least 22 United States citizens appear on it, the Associated Press reported.

What Newsom argues

California's chain of custody and retention laws already preserve ballot evidence under court supervision, the governor wrote, so no legitimate law enforcement reason exists to seize ballots, materials or counting equipment.

"Given the United States Department of Justice's persistence in advancing this baseless theory of criminal liability, I have grave concerns federal agents will seek search warrants to seize ballots and ballot materials before the election results are certified," he wrote. The only reason to use search warrants, he added, would be to interfere in the state's lawful counting of ballots and certification of the results.

With the letter, Newsom sent a UC Berkeley Edley Center guide, Questions for Assessing A Search Warrant for Election Materials (September 2026), for use until California certifies its results on December 11, 2026.

What happens next

No warrant application has been announced. The near term fight stays in the civil courts, where the administration must decide quickly whether to ask the Supreme Court to step in before Tuesday. California keeps counting ballots under state procedures while the cases run.