A federal judge in Washington expressed concerns today that the Trump administration’s actions regarding elections might create a “chilling effect,” pointing out that letters sent by the Justice Department to local election officials contained misleading information.
“The government has openly shown its intent to remove individuals from voter rolls” whom they suspect are noncitizens, U. S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan stated during an unusual Saturday hearing. “Previous attempts to do this have resulted in U. S. citizens being caught up in this law enforcement sweep.”
Chutkan mentioned she was worried people might avoid voting if they fear being wrongly accused of voting as noncitizens.
“It’s an ‘if,’” Elizabeth Shapiro, a lawyer for the Justice Department, retorted.
“It’s not,” Chutkan replied, referring to Gustavo Gutierrez Gomez, who provided a declaration in the case brought by voting advocates concerning what they call the Trump administration’s “Voter Data Collection Policy.”
The League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights organization for Hispanics, urged the judge to stop sharing data about registered voters that the administration claims are “likely noncitizens” with states and localities for potential action against those voters.
During today’s hearing, Chutkan highlighted several instances in Washington, D. C., and across the country where voting groups or immigrant rights organizations are seeking similar relief, noting that the Trump administration hasn’t been very successful at identifying actual noncitizen voters.
“The government’s been wrong,” Chutkan remarked. “In fact, they’ve hardly ever been right.”
The judge pointed out how the DOJ had informed Nevada officials about 15,903 individuals it claimed were noncitizen voters. Eventually, local officials confirmed none on that list were actually noncitizens.
“I can’t disagree with you that the government has made mistakes,” Shapiro acknowledged. “The government isn’t trying to make mistakes.”
John B. Hill, an attorney representing LULAC, referenced reporting from NBC News indicating that the Justice Department is thinking about suing more states leading up to – or possibly after – the Nov. 3 midterm elections as part of its efforts to pressure states into checking their voter rolls for any noncitizens attempting to vote in federal elections.
Chutkan is expected to make a decision on this matter soon.p >
Today’s hearing follows another ruling yesterday from a federal judge in California blocking strong >the Trump administration’s em >threats or intimidation towards election officials. p > That ruling was just one of several legal challenges faced bythe Trump administrationthis week as it tries to coerce local election officials into following its directives ahead of Tuesday’s elections.Source link
