Federal judge rejects Justice Department voter-roll matching program

On October 9, Reuters reported that U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ruled the Justice Department’s effort to obtain state voter rolls and match them against the federal SAVE immigration database unlawful. The 78-page decision emphasized the risk that outdated citizenship data could disenfranchise naturalized citizens and noted federal law’s prohibition on systematic voter-roll reviews within 90 days of a federal election; the department has lost 26 of 30 related state cases. For clients assessing U.S. political risk, the ruling limits one federal election-administration mechanism before the November 3 midterms but does not end parallel litigation or emergency appeals. Law firms advising employers, platforms and campaign-adjacent businesses should distinguish legal outcomes from political claims and monitor operational deadlines rather than assume that a national rule has stabilized.