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On October 9, 2026, US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ruled that the Justice Department's practice of using state voter rolls to check against a federal immigration database and remove ineligible voters was unconstitutional. The judge, appointed by President Joe Biden, determined that this action overstepped federal authority and undermined states' constitutional role in managing elections. This decision follows another recent ruling where Sooknanan blocked the Trump administration from employing an expanded version of the SAVE database for voter roll checks, though the Supreme Court temporarily paused that earlier decision.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-10,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ruled on Friday that the Justice Department's efforts to use state voter rolls and cross-check them against the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database was unlawful. The decision, spanning 78 pages, sided with watchdog group Common Cause. The judge criticized the administration for underestimating the risk of wrongly removing eligible voters due to inaccuracies in the SAVE database. This ruling is seen as a setback for President Donald Trump's plans to increase federal oversight ahead of the November 3 midterms and challenges Republicans' efforts to maintain control over Congress. Ming Cheung, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, stated that the ruling prevents the administration from using the federal government to disrupt elections or put voters’ rights at risk. The Justice Department is currently reviewing the decision but has not commented further.
Written for “Voter Data Lawsuit Settlement” on 2026-10-10,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but every quote it verified points right, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 69791: score contradicts its own evidence · logged 2026-10-10
US judge rules DOJ using state voter rolls unconstitutional
By
asserted
DOJ → rule → rolls
A US judge ruled on Friday that the Justice Department’s push to obtain state voter rolls and check them against a federal immigration database to demand that states remove voters it deemed ineligible was unlawful.
asserted
it → rule → voters
US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s decision marked the latest setback for President Donald Trump’s push to expand federal control over election administration ahead of the November 3 midterms, with his Republican Party battling to hold majorities in both houses of Congress.
asserted
Party → mark → Congress
In a 78-page decision siding with a challenge to the Justice Department’s practice brought by watchdog group Common Cause, Sooknanan wrote that the Justice Department had downplayed the risk that its practice would wrongfully disenfranchise eligible US citizens despite evidence that the immigration database, known as SAVE, could be inaccurate.
uncertain
database → side → SAVE
“The challenged policy represents the federal government’s attempt to decide who gets to vote.
asserted
who → challenge → attempt
But Congress has left that authority where our Constitution has always placed it: with the states,” wrote Sooknanan, who is based in Washington and was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden.
asserted
who → leave → Biden
Supreme Court Paused Previous Ruling
Ming Cheung, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement, “Today’s ruling makes clear that the administration cannot use the federal government to disrupt elections.”
The Justice Department is reviewing the decision, a spokesperson said.
asserted
spokesperson → pause → decision
In a separate case, Sooknanan blocked the Trump administration in June from using an expanded version of the SAVE database to check the accuracy of voter rolls.
asserted
Sooknanan → block → rolls
The US Supreme Court temporarily paused that decision last month.
asserted
Court → pause → decision
Federal election law prohibits the systematic review of voter rolls in the 90 days before any federal election, potentially blunting the impact of both Sooknanan’s decision and the Supreme Court’s pause of her previous order on the upcoming midterms.
asserted
law → prohibit → midterms
Latest Defeat for Justice Department
Trump, who falsely claims his loss in the 2020 presidential election was due to voter fraud, ordered the Justice Department last year to crack down on voting by ineligible people, despite multiple state audits and independent studies showing such voter fraud is rare.
The Justice Department then demanded that nearly all 50 states hand over their complete, unredacted voter rolls, including sensitive information such as voters’ Social Security numbers or dates of birth.
uncertain
states → claim → birth
Eighteen mostly Republican-led states complied.
asserted
states → lead → ?
After receiving the voter data, the Justice Department ran it through SAVE and alerted states to voters found to be non-citizens so the states could remove them.
uncertain
states → receive → them
Start your day with all you need to know
Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
asserted
Report → start → news
Sooknanan said the Trump administration’s expansion of SAVE meant it now contained citizenship data from the Social Security Administration, which could be outdated, meaning many immigrants who had since been naturalized as US citizens would still be flagged as non-citizens.
uncertain
who → say → citizens
The Justice Department sued 30 Democratic-led and Republican states that refused to hand over their unredacted voter rolls, as well as Washington, DC.
asserted
that → sue → rolls
It has lost 26 of those cases so far, without winning one.
asserted
It → lose → one
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