Federal judge blocks DHS voter-fraud sweep in nine states ahead of midterms
A federal judge in Oakland issued a preliminary injunction halting DHS operations targeting alleged unlawful voters in nine states until the November 3 election.
In Oakland, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguín granted a preliminary injunction that stops the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out its “Unlawful Voter Initiative” in nine states—California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin—until polls close on Nov. 3. The order, prompted by a lawsuit from the California Nurses Association, National Nurses United, the Voto Latino Foundation, Santa Clara County and San Francisco, bars federal agents from field operations that could involve U.S. citizens.
Plaintiffs claim the DHS databases are incomplete, sweeping in citizens and fostering a “credible fear” of intimidation, while DOJ attorney Kelsey Helland defended the data-sharing and deployment of agents as lawful investigative tools. Protect Democracy Project attorney Geoffrey Curfman highlighted that DHS cited 300,000 potential violators but has only prosecuted a handful. The judge left the injunction in place pending further review, and neither the Justice Department nor the nurses’ union responded to requests for comment.
Why it matters
It limits a federal effort that could deter citizens from voting by threatening investigations.
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