Sparkle Sooknanan blocks DOJ voter list policy in Washington
A federal judge in Washington struck down a DOJ voter rolls ruling policy, stopping officials from gathering state registration data to check citizenship.
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan in Washington struck down a Justice Department voter record policy on Friday. The nationwide ruling stops federal officials from collecting state voter registration records to check citizenship status. The decision blocks the federal program even in states that voluntarily cooperated with officials.
Sooknanan ruled the department exceeded its legal authority and violated federal privacy laws. Officials had requested sensitive voter details to share with other government agencies. The ruling invalidates the entire voter list maintenance policy across the country.
Multiple states previously won legal challenges against the Justice Department rule in their jurisdictions. Sooknanan was appointed by Biden. “DOJ cannot run roughshod over longstanding laws that were carefully crafted to protect the rights of American people,” Sooknanan wrote.
The decision stems from an April lawsuit by voting rights group Common Cause and four voters. Plaintiffs accused the administration of creating a “sprawling new voter surveillance and purging apparatus” ahead of November midterm elections. Eligible Americans faced risks of wrongful removal from state voter registration rolls.
The program began last year under an executive order from President Trump. The order directed federal officials to work with states to identify potential election law violations. The department then requested unredacted voter registration lists from election offices nationwide.
Federal requests sought sensitive information including names, addresses and partial Social Security numbers. At least 18 states complied. The department shared voter records with the Department of Homeland Security in Washington.
Officials checked citizenship status through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database. Participating states also agreed to remove ineligible voters within 45 days of notification. Sooknanan found the department failed to consider the risk of mistakenly removing eligible voters.
Federal citizenship records contained known inaccuracies, according to the 78-page ruling. The judge cited a 2006 Social Security Administration audit in the decision. That audit found approximately 3.3 million U.S. citizens had been misidentified as noncitizens.
Federal district courts in Washington review executive actions to ensure compliance with federal statutes. When a judge vacates a federal policy, government agencies must halt enforcement across all jurisdictions. Affected departments may choose to appeal the ruling to a higher federal court.
Sooknanan concluded the federal voter list policy posed direct harm to legitimate voters. “The Court vacates a policy that has removed United States citizens from the voter rolls in their home states and risks disenfranchising many more,” Sooknanan wrote.
