Judge blocks DOJ from using national voter database to boot citizen voters

Four citizens sued in April after they were wrongfully removed from voter rolls.WASHINGTON (CN) — A federal judge on Friday blocked the Justice Department from using a flawed national voter database it to revoke U.S. citizens’ voter registrations, finding it a clear effort by the Trump administration to “decide who gets to vote.”U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ruled that the Justice Department Civil Rights Division was unlawfully using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database — a system meant to verify immigration status and U.S. citizenship of benefit applicants — to review states’ voter registration lists and remove individuals it deemed ineligible.In her order, the Joe Biden appointee highlighted what she called “startling arguments” from Trump’s DOJ — including that “every American citizen who registers to vote is the subject of a voter fraud investigation … simply because they registered to vote.”“The defendants downplay the risk of voter disenfranchisement despite knowingly relying on an inaccurate database to check voter eligibility,” Sooknanan wrote. “Behind all the window dressing, the challenged policy represents the federal government’s attempt to decide who gets to vote.”Voting rights group Common Cause sued over these efforts in April. Their four plaintiffs — Anthony Nel, Haley Smith, Linda Duckworth and Ruth Nasrullah— are all U.S. citizens who had their voter registrations canceled after their states turned over voter rolls to the Justice Department.Nel, a resident of Denton County, Texas, received a letter from voting officials in October 2025 informing him he had been identified by Homeland Security’s SAVE system as a noncitizen. The officials said his registration would be canceled if he did not provide proof of citizenship within 30 days.Nel’s passport was expired — and by the time he managed to renew it two months later, his voter registration was already canceled. He was ultimately able to have it reinstated, but Common Cause argues he continues to worry he will be deemed ineligible again.Sooknanan rejected the Justice Department’s argument that it had authority to demand states remove people from their rolls under the pretext of “voter list maintenance.”In a statement, Common Cause President and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón lauded the decision as a “victory for voters.”“It’s time the Trump administration stop these desperate attempts to seize voters’ private data and take control of our elections,” Solomón said. “Every voter deserves to know their private data is secure and that they won’t be wrongfully denied their freedom to vote. We are proud to win this protection for those whose election officials failed them.”The DOJ has demanded voter rolls from 49 states and Washington, D.C. to compare to its SAVE database. An analysis by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune in February found the SAVE system makes “persistent mistakes,” particularly when assessing the status of individuals born outside the U.S. who have subsequently become citizens.But these rolls include sensitive personal data such as home addresses, social security numbers and voting history. As a result, while at least 18 states have fully cooperated with the Justice Department’s demands, 26 states have refused.That’s led the Justice Department to sue in efforts to compel the states to produce their voter rolls. In all of those 26 states, federal judges have dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuits after ruling the efforts were unlawful. Additionally, the Sixth Circuit has also upheld the dismissal of one such lawsuit.Sooknanan noted her decision did not prevent states from maintaining their own voter rolls, nor did it allow ineligible voters to vote.“Rather, the court vacates a policy that has removed United States citizens from the voter rolls in their home states and risks disenfranchising many more," she wrote. “When the federal government defies federal laws, our system of checks and balances permits individuals to turn to federal courts for recourse.”Reached for comment, the Justice Department said it was reviewing the decision.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads