True
“A federal judge blocked the Justice Department's voter-roll checks.”
The facts: True, with limits. On Oct. 9 a federal judge in Washington ruled that the Justice Department's effort to collect state voter rolls, run them against a federal immigration database, and push states to remove flagged voters was unlawful. DOJ has appealed and asked her to pause the ruling; briefing on that request ends Oct. 26, and the ruling stays in effect unless a court says otherwise. DOJ told the judge Oct. 19 that its California ballot lawsuit is separate from the policy she struck down; she has not ruled on that. States still verify citizenship and keep their own rolls, and federal law bars systematic roll purges in the 90 days before a federal election. Check your registration with your state election office.
How this story developed
- DOJ tells the judge its California lawsuit is separate from the policy she struck down and asks her to skip a status conference. The D.C. Circuit dockets the appeal as No. 26-5362. The judge has not ruled on either.
- DOJ asks Judge Sooknanan to pause her ruling while it appeals. She sets a response deadline of Oct. 23 and a reply deadline of Oct. 26; the ruling stays in effect meanwhile.
- DOJ files a notice of appeal to the D.C. Circuit. Judge Sooknanan orders DOJ to respond by Oct. 19 to the request for a status conference. DOJ says her order does not cover other methods such as SAVE.
Sources
- Reuters Other source Archived copy
- Common Cause v. DOJ docket: notice of appeal and response order, Oct 16 Primary document Checked
- States Newsroom: DOJ to appeal, must answer judge by Oct 19, Oct 16 News report Checked
- CourtListener: DOJ response to request for status conference, Oct 19 Primary document Checked