Judge blocks voter lists from reaching states

A federal judge temporarily barred the Trump administration from sending states lists of voters it suspects may not be U.S. citizens, and from asking election officials to withhold ballots linked to those voters until their citizenship is verified. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s order prohibits the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security from sharing the lists with state and local officials responsible for voter registration, ballot processing or election certification. It also bars the agencies from asking officials to set aside, delay counting or refuse to count ballots associated with people on the lists. The ruling came as midterm voting was underway. The lawsuit, brought by the League of Women Voters and other voting-rights and privacy organizations, challenged the administration’s collection of state voter-registration information and its comparison with federal databases. The groups argued that the effort violated federal privacy protections and risked harming eligible voters. Chutkan said the government’s data might be unreliable and could lead to eligible voters being disenfranchised. The plaintiffs also alleged that the administration’s demands...