“Asking them to follow the law is having profound consequences on their mental health” Cannot stop laughing.
— The Dank Knight 🦇 (@capeandcowell) November 1, 2026
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.
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