Judge blocks Trump administration from pressuring states over noncitizen voting

A US judge on Monday temporarily barred the Trump administration from moving ahead with a plan it says would prevent noncitizen voting, but that critics say risks disenfranchising eligible voters and infringing on states' authority over elections.



US District Judge Tanya Chutkan barred the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security from sending states lists of registered voters the administration says may not be citizens, and from asking state election officials to separate out those voters' ballots or not count them until citizenship is proven.



The ruling marks the latest in a series of legal setbacks for President Donald Trump's efforts to assert federal control over election administration ahead of the November 3 midterms. Trump's fellow Republicans are battling to retain majorities in both houses of Congress.



Noncitizen voting is illegal and all available evidence shows that it is exceedingly rare. But Trump, who falsely asserts that his loss in the 2020 presidential election was due to fraud, has long accused states — which are responsible for administering elections — of facilitating noncitizen voting.



Over the past month, the Trump administration ramped up a pressure campaign against election officials over alleged noncitizen voting by sending letters to officials in California and Washington state demanding they not count any ballots from people on lists of voters the administration said may not be citizens.