Follow-Up: Newsom Warns California's Chief Federal Judges of Ballot-Seizure Warrant Risk
In Sacramento, the capital city in Sacramento County, California, the Governor's Office said on October 31 that Governor Gavin Newsom sent a letter that day to the Chief District Judges for the four federal district courts in California, warning of the risk of federal search warrants to seize ballots and election materials while the election is underway, and enclosing nonpartisan expert legal resources for evaluating such requests.
In the letter, Newsom wrote that he was not writing in connection with any warrant application currently pending in their courts, and that he was unaware of any such matters at this time. He wrote to alert the judges to the risk to election integrity of issuing a search warrant to seize ballots, election records or certified voting technology while an election is underway and before the results are certified.
The letter cited recent developments. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, the number two official at the U.S. Department of Justice, sent letters to state and local election officials warning of potential legal jeopardy if they did not comply with the federal government's demands. Bilal Essayli, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California, explicitly threatened via social media posts to bring criminal prosecution against elections officials who process ballots cast by individuals whom the United States asserts may be non-citizens.
The letter also said federal grand jury subpoenas have been issued to Los Angeles County election workers, and that reports suggest the Justice Department has doubled down on pursuing criminal investigations of state and local election officials who did not comply with its demands, even after Judge David O. Carter, presiding over United States v. California, advised that any threats to state and county elected employees should cease immediately.
Newsom wrote that California's strict chain of custody, documentation and retention laws for ballots and ballot materials ensure any evidence of alleged wrongdoing is preserved and appropriately supervised by a court, so there is no legitimate law enforcement reason to seize ballots, ballot materials and the equipment needed to process and tabulate ballots; the only reason to do so, he wrote, would be to interfere in California's lawful counting of ballots and certification of results.
Newsom said he has grave concerns that federal agents will seek search warrants to seize ballots and ballot materials before the election results are certified. The enclosed resource is the UC Berkeley Edley Center on Law & Democracy's "Questions for Assessing A Search Warrant for Election Materials," published in September 2026, offered for magistrate judges and district judges who may consider warrant applications before California's election results are certified by December 11, 2026.
The dispute between California and the Justice Department over the list of voters alleged to be non-citizens has run for weeks: the department sued California, sought emergency relief to segregate the ballots at issue and warned election officials of potential liability, and a federal judge has since ordered the department to stop threatening election officials with prosecution.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加州州长纽森在州长讲台前举行新闻发布会（资料图）。加州州长办公室摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Governor Gavin Newsom at a press conference at the Governor's podium (file photo). Office of the Governor of California, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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- 2026-10-31Follow-Up: Newsom Warns California's Chief Federal Judges of Ballot-Seizure Warrant RiskThis story
