A federal judge in Washington on November 2 barred DHS and the Justice Department from sending state and local election officials lists of registered voters the government says may be noncitizens. The order came one day before the midterm elections.
U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, a 2014 Obama appointee, granted a Preliminary injunctionA temporary court order pausing enforcement of a rule or policy while a legal case is still being decided.See it in the glossary and a stay in League of Women Voters v. DHS, a challenge filed October 15 to what the plaintiffs call the government’s voter data collection policy.
What the noncitizen voter list order bars
The order stops DHS and DOJ from further disclosing or transmitting data that identifies people as potential or confirmed noncitizen voters to officials who register voters, process ballots or certify results. It also bars them from asking election officials to set aside or not count those voters’ ballots until citizenship is proven.
The order does not stop agencies from answering citizenship verification requests made through the SAVE system, according to the Just Security litigation tracker. Our earlier report explains how the expanded SAVE citizenship checks work.
Why the judge ruled on Privacy Act grounds
In a 30-page opinion, Chutkan found the plaintiffs likely to win on claims under the Privacy Act of 1974, which limits how federal agencies share personal records. She found the government likely violated the law by sharing records in bulk without a valid exception and by never publishing the required public notice for the new data system.
She also found the League of Women Voters had standing because the policy harmed its voter registration work before the election. The judge said the government’s data may be unreliable, creating a risk that eligible voters would be wrongly flagged.
The government’s position
The Justice Department argued that its letters to election officials in California and Washington state were part of enforcing the federal ban on noncitizen voting, not a separate policy a court could review. Noncitizen voting in federal elections is already illegal.
Other election rulings the same week
On October 30, U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson in the Northern District of California temporarily barred DOJ and DHS from threatening election officials with prosecution for lawfully processing or counting ballots. A divided Ninth Circuit panel paused that order on November 2, but the full court granted en banc review the same day, which vacated the panel’s decision. Chief Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington also issued a November 2 injunction addressing prosecution threats against California election officials.
These rulings follow an October 21 order that limited DHS noncitizen voter field operations in nine states. Chutkan’s order does not end the case, and the government can appeal. For the wider picture, see what the 2026 midterms could change for immigrants.