Judge Orders Pause to Noncitizen Voter Investigations in Nine States
A federal judge in California has ordered the Trump administration to suspend investigations into whether noncitizens are registered to vote in nine states, citing concerns about inaccurate data and the effect of the inquiries on groups that assist voters.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin issued the ruling Wednesday in Oakland. She found that the investigations relied on data containing numerous errors and were intimidating organizations involved in voter assistance. Her order would halt the inquiries until polls close on Election Day, November 3.
The judge delayed the order’s implementation until Friday to give the administration an opportunity to appeal. It applies to investigations in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.
The decision comes as the administration seeks to identify noncitizens on voter rolls ahead of the midterm elections. The administration has characterized noncitizen voting as a significant problem. The Associated Press reports that it is rare and that the administration’s own investigations have found relatively few cases.
The lawsuit was filed by the California Nurses Association, National Nurses United, the Voto Latino Foundation, San Francisco and Santa Clara County. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press.
The ruling concerns the administration’s investigative methods and their effects before the election. It does not settle questions about individual voter registrations, nor does it prevent an appeal. For now, whether the investigations pause on Friday depends on any further court action.
The dispute places two issues before the courts in the final days of the campaign: the federal government’s effort to check voter eligibility and the plaintiffs’ concerns about errors and intimidation. Under the judge’s order, the specified investigations would remain halted through the close of polls on November 3 if the ruling takes effect and is not changed on appeal.