U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan struck down a Department of Justice policy on Friday that sought to collect state voter registration records and identify suspected non-U.S. citizens. The ruling invalidates a program that checked voter rolls against federal immigration databases and urged states to remove individuals determined to be registered illegally.
The program originated from an executive order by President Trump directing federal officials to identify potential election law violations. The Justice Department argued the policy was necessary to ensure states complied with the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act. Before this ruling, 18 states had fully cooperated with the department’s request for voter files, which included names, addresses, and partial Social Security numbers.
In her 78-page ruling, Sooknanan stated the Justice Department exceeded its legal authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Privacy Act. The judge noted that the policy shared sensitive data with other agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, to check citizenship status via the Systematic Alien Verification for Enntitlements (SAVE) database. Sooknanan wrote that the policy "risks disenfranchising many more" by using federal databases that could contain inaccuracies, citing a 2006 Social Security Administration audit that found 3.3 million citizens were misidentified as noncitizens.
For the individual voter, the decision means their registration status and sensitive personal information—including addresses and partial Social Security numbers—will no longer be subject to this specific federal citizenship screening process. The ruling stated that the authority to determine voter eligibility rests with state governments rather than the federal executive branch.
The effects of the ruling include the invalidation of the policy nationwide, even for states that had voluntarily cooperated. However, the decision does not prevent states from maintaining their own voter rolls or the federal government from taking other lawful steps to support those efforts. A Justice Department spokesperson stated the agency is reviewing the decision. The impact on upcoming midterm elections may be limited by federal law, which prohibits the systematic removal of voters from registration lists within 90 days of an election. The Justice Department has the option to appeal the ruling.