Judge Blocks Trump Use of Immigration Database for Voter Rolls

US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan in Washington, DC, on Monday barred the Trump administration from using a revamped immigration database to check the accuracy of state voter rolls.

The ruling is a serious setback for President Donald Trump’s efforts to strengthen the federal government’s role in election oversight ahead of the November midterm elections.

The Department of Homeland Security revamped the system, known as SAVE, last year after Trump issued an executive order intended to allow state and local authorities to verify voters’ immigration status and search records in bulk.

Sooknanan, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, sided with voting rights and privacy advocates in a 75-page decision. They had argued that the overhaul made the system less accurate and risked disenfranchising eligible voters.

The decision comes as Republicans fight to maintain control of both houses of Congress in the midterm elections, scheduled for 3 November. Trump and his allies have long claimed that states are not doing enough to prevent voter fraud, even though audits and academic studies have found such fraud to be rare.

(Reuters, Max)