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Judge Orders D.H.S. to Restore 4 States’ Access to Citizenship Data
The New York Times • • nation
Key Points:
- A federal judge in Florida ordered the Homeland Security Department to restore access to federal citizenship data for four Republican-led states to aid in voter roll screening, contradicting a recent Washington judge’s national withdrawal order.
- The ruling stems from a Trump-era legal settlement with Florida, requiring the department to cooperate on improving the citizenship database and allow bulk searches by state officials.
- The four states affected by the order are Florida, Ohio, Iowa, and Indiana, all of which had joined the original case.
- Two weeks prior, a Biden-appointed judge in Washington blocked the use of the citizenship database for voter screening, citing privacy violations and concerns about outdated information potentially disenfranchising voters.
- This split between courts highlights ongoing legal and political disputes over federal involvement in election administration initiated during the Trump administration.
