弗吉尼亚州诺福克讯——司法部长托德·布兰奇周四表示，司法部可能寻求阻止各州认证中期选举选票的可能性，但布兰奇坚称，他无意“不当干预选举”。NBC新闻本周报道称，司法部正在权衡针对各州的更多选举相关诉讼，此前该部起诉加利福尼亚州，迫使州官员审查18000名登记选民，司法部怀疑这些人可能是非公民，试图投出欺诈选票。
NORFOLK, Va. — Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday left open the possibility that the Justice Department could seek to block states from certifying votes in the midterm elections, though Blanche insisted it wasn’t his intention to “improperly interfere with elections.”NBC News reported this week that the Justice Department is weighing more election-related litigation against states, following a lawsuit against California to compel state officials to review 18,000 registered voters the Justice Department suspected could be noncitizens seeking to cast fraudulent ballots.
加利福尼亚州实行全邮寄选举，自动寄送选票。科罗拉多州、夏威夷州、内华达州、俄勒冈州、犹他州、佛蒙特州和华盛顿州以及华盛顿特区也实行这一制度。邮寄投票经常成为总统唐纳德·特朗普选民欺诈说法的攻击目标，这些说法在2026年中期选举前升级，尽管他身在华盛顿居住和工作，却仍在佛罗里达州使用这种投票方式投票。
California has an all-mail election and sends out ballots automatically. Seven other states and Washington, D.C. do, too: Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington state. Mail voting has frequently been a target for President Donald Trump’s voter fraud claims, which have escalated ahead of the 2026 midterms, even as he uses the voting method to cast his ballot in Florida while he resides and works in Washington.
这些法律威胁发生在特朗普政府更广泛的运动之中，该运动将目标锁定在投票专家称相对罕见的非公民投票现象上。司法部在美国选举中的作用受到法律限制，主要允许该部门保护公民权利并起诉违反选举法的个人。虽然私人公民和候选人可以起诉挑战选票或选举结果，但没有美国法律规定司法部可以挑战选票或延迟认证。
The legal threats come amid a broader campaign by the Trump administration to zero in on what voting experts say is a relatively rare phenomenon of voting by noncitizens. The Justice Department’s role in U.S. elections is limited by law, chiefly allowing the department to safeguard civil rights and prosecute individuals who violate election law. While private citizens and candidates can sue to challenge ballots or election results, there are no U.S. laws that say the Justice Department can challenge ballots or delay certification.
美国选举由州和地方官员负责，他们负责认证结果。周四，记者问布兰奇，他是否能排除司法部采取任何可能寻求延迟计票的行动。
U.S. elections are run by state and local officials, who are charged with certifying results. On Thursday, Blanche was asked by reporters whether he could rule out any action by the Justice Department that could seek to delay the counting of ballots.
“司法部无意，也从未有过任何意图去不当干预选举或州的选举认证流程，”他在登机前对记者们表示。布兰奇（Blanche）与联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔（Kash Patel）于周四一同前往诺福克（Norfolk）举行新闻发布会，宣布对一位82岁的弗吉尼亚州参议员提起敲诈勒索指控。布兰奇提到，虽然可能存在某些极端情况（即“末日般的情景”），但司法部仍不会试图干涉州或地方选举官员的认证工作。
“It is not DOJ’s intention to, and it’s never our intention to, improperly interfere with elections or the state confirmation process or certification process,” he told reporters before he boarded a plane. Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to Norfolk for a press conference Thursday announcing racketeering charges against an 82-year-old Virginia state senator. Blanche said there could be some “doomsday” scenario where the Justice Department would seek to get involved in state and local election officials’ certification process.
他说：“当然，我不能断言在任何情况下我们都不会这么做；但我也不会特意安排自己的工作日程，以便在选举期间处于无法参与认证工作的位置。”
“To say that there’s no circumstances that we would ever do that .... of course, I’m not going to say that,” he said. “But am I planning my days around the election to be somewhere to not certify? Of course not.”