Edition · Tue 03 Nov 2026
Politics Desk
Hours Before Polls Open, a Judge Stops Washington From Leaning on States Over Noncitizen Voting
Judge Tanya Chutkan temporarily blocked the Trump administration from sending states lists of suspected noncitizens and demanding ballots be held, citing unreliable data and risk to voters.
By Rachel · Edited by Chanan Zevin - Chief Editor and Head of Desks
Published
Chutkan halts voter list distribution
On Nov 2, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan temporarily barred the Trump administration from carrying out a plan to distribute lists of registered voters it asserted might not be citizens. The Washington-based judge ruled that the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security could not provide those compilations to states or instruct local officials to separate out ballots ahead of the Nov 3 midterms, according to The Straits Times.
Chutkan halts voter list distribution
The ruling matters directly for eligible voters and state election administrators across the country, preserving access to the ballot box on election day without the threat of last-minute federal intercession. By stopping federal agencies from requiring local officials to set aside ballots until citizenship is proven, the decision shields legally registered citizens from disenfranchisement caused by disputed federal data while reinforcing state authority over elections.
California and Washington state targeted
Over the past month, the Trump administration intensified an enforcement campaign directed at state authorities by sending letters to officials in California and Washington state. In those notices, federal officials demanded that local election workers decline to count ballots cast by individuals appearing on lists of voters who might not be citizens, The Straits Times reported.
California and Washington state targeted
The Justice Department maintained in a court filing on Oct 31 that its letters to California and Washington were part of legitimate efforts to enforce a federal statute banning noncitizen voting. Justice Department attorneys argued in the Oct 31 filing that the notifications did not amount to a distinct agency policy subject to review by a federal court, according to The Straits Times.
California and Washington state targeted
The federal push faced resistance in Western courts earlier in the week when a federal judge in Los Angeles rejected a Justice Department request to order California election officials to set aside mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters. On Oct 30, a federal appeals court also turned down the Justice Department's bid for an emergency order pending appeal in that California litigation, according to The Straits Times.
Privacy claims and split appellate rulings
Voting rights and privacy advocates initiated the Washington lawsuit to halt the federal demands, contending that the administration violated the Privacy Act of 1974. That 1974 statute restricts the federal government's authority to disclose sensitive personal data, and Judge Chutkan determined that the administration's records may be unreliable, creating a direct risk that lawful voters could lose their franchise, The Straits Times reported.
Privacy claims and split appellate rulings
Federal courts reached contradictory conclusions on Nov 2, when a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government could threaten local officials with prosecution for noncompliance. Judge Chutkan, an appointee of former Democratic president Barack Obama, noted that she was not bound by the 9th Circuit finding, following an Oct 30 ruling by a federal judge in San Francisco that ordered the Justice Department to stop issuing such prosecution threats, The Straits Times reported.
Privacy claims and split appellate rulings
Noncitizen voting is illegal under federal law and available evidence demonstrates that it remains exceedingly rare. President Donald Trump has continued to make false assertions that his defeat in the 2020 presidential election was driven by fraud, while Republicans sought to defend congressional majorities in both chambers during the Nov 3 elections, according to The Straits Times.