Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump DOJ's Voter Purge Policy as Unlawful

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., struck down the Trump administration's nationwide policy of collecting state voter rolls and using federal immigration records to identify suspected noncitizens for removal, ruling that the Justice Department exceeded its legal authority and violated federal privacy protections.

U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan issued the decision on October 9, 2026, finding that the department's screening operation relied on unreliable citizenship records and risked removing eligible American citizens from voter lists. The ruling vacates the policy less than a month before the November 3 midterm elections.

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division had requested complete voter registration lists from 49 states and Washington, D.C., seeking personal information including names, birth dates, addresses, and identifying numbers. At least 18 states complied, while others resisted the demands and faced federal lawsuits.

Under the initiative, federal officials shared voter records with other agencies and compared them against the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, known as SAVE, to identify people suspected of being ineligible to vote. Agreements with participating states required them to remove voters flagged by the Justice Department within 45 days of receiving notice.

The database relies partly on Social Security Administration records that can contain outdated citizenship information, particularly for people who became U.S. citizens after receiving Social Security numbers. A 2006 federal audit found that approximately 3.3 million American citizens had been incorrectly classified as noncitizens in Social Security records.

Those inaccuracies had already affected eligible voters in Texas. Anthony Nel, who acquired U.S. citizenship through a parent, and Bailey Doe, a naturalized citizen, had their registrations canceled following erroneous SAVE results. Another voter, Alex Doe, was required to provide documentary proof of citizenship. The judge cited those cases as evidence of the risks posed by the Justice Department's proposed screening operation.

The database's use in voter eligibility checks has also faced separate legal challenges. In June, Sooknanan struck down changes expanding SAVE, but the Supreme Court stayed that decision on September 25 after finding that the government was likely to prevail on a key statutory argument. That proceeding concerned the database itself, while the October 9 ruling addressed the Justice Department's policy of obtaining and processing state voter records.

The latest case was brought by voting rights organization Common Cause and individual voters challenging the department's collection, sharing, and use of their personal information.

DOJ lawyers argued that the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the National Voter Registration Act, and the Help America Vote Act authorized the department to obtain statewide voter records as part of its election enforcement responsibilities. Sooknanan rejected that interpretation, finding that the statutes provided narrower investigative powers than the administration claimed.

The judge also found that the department violated the Privacy Act by improperly disclosing voter information, failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of its records, and retaining information concerning constitutionally protected activity without the required legal authorization.

Federal officials also bypassed procedural requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act, which governs how agencies collect information. Those violations, along with the department's failure to address the risks of unreliable citizenship data, led the court to invalidate the initiative under the Administrative Procedure Act, which allows judges to set aside unlawful federal agency actions.

The ruling adds to a series of court decisions rejecting the Justice Department's demands for statewide voter records. Federal judges have dismissed numerous enforcement lawsuits against states that refused to provide the requested information, with the administration facing setbacks across multiple jurisdictions.

President Donald Trump has directed federal agencies to prioritize enforcement of election laws and identify potentially ineligible voters. His administration maintains that the initiative is intended to prevent noncitizens from participating in federal elections, where voting by noncitizens is prohibited.

The October 9 order vacated the Justice Department's policy nationwide, adding to the administration's legal setbacks over access to state voter records. The decision is appealable, leaving the government the option of seeking further review before the November 3 midterm elections.