Federal judge orders Trump administration to halt noncitizen voting investigation in 9 states

A federal judge in California has ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to halt investigations in nine states into whether noncitizens are registered to vote.

U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin in Oakland found the government’s effort is relying on data that is full of errors and that it’s leading to intimidation of groups performing voter assistance efforts. She said it should be halted until polls close on Election Day, Nov. 3.

She put her ruling, which was made Wednesday, on hold until Friday to give the administration a chance to appeal.

The ruling applies to investigations in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.

It comes as the Trump administration has been hunting for noncitizen voters throughout the country in the months leading into the midterm elections. The administration has signaled that it’s a major problem, when in fact it’s quite rare, as even its own investigations have shown.

The lawsuit was filed by the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, along with the Voto Latino Foundation, San Francisco and Santa Clara County. A request for comment to the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately returned.