Latest / GNN Daily Breaking News / Judge blocks Trump administration from pressuring states over noncitizen voting
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: A federal judge has issued a sweeping injunction halting federal
- 0:03Speaker 1: attempts to pressure state and local election officials over allegations
- 0:08Speaker 1: of non-citizen voting. The legal ruling effectively blocks federal prosecutors
- 0:13Speaker 1: and executive agencies from enforcing aggressive demands for voter roll purchase,
- 0:18Speaker 1: issuing administrative subpoenas to local clerks, or threatening state election
- 0:23Speaker 1: staff with federal prosecution in the lead-up to vote tabulation.
- 0:28Speaker 1: The court decision arrives following intense legal challenges brought by
- 0:32Speaker 1: state attorneys general and voting rights organizations. Plaintiffs argued that
- 0:37Speaker 1: federal efforts to intervene in state administered voting lists violated
- 0:41Speaker 1: core constitutional principles of federalism and exceeded executive authority. The
- 0:47Speaker 1: judge found that the late stage federal demands placed an
- 0:50Speaker 1: unlawful burden on local election administration risking the widespread disenfranchisement
- 0:56Speaker 1: of eligible voters who shared similar names or demographic profiles
- 1:01Speaker 1: with flagged individuals. Under federal law, authority over voter registration
- 1:06Speaker 1: and election administration rests primarily with state governments. The National
- 1:12Speaker 1: Voter Registration Act specifically restricts systematic modifications to voter rolls
- 1:17Speaker 1: close to an election to prevent operational chaos and ensure
- 1:20Speaker 1: individuals are not erroneously removed without due process. Legal experts
- 1:25Speaker 1: noted that federal data cross-referencing techniques relied on outdated immigration records,
- 1:31Speaker 1: which failed to reflect recent naturalizations and resulted in verified U.S.
- 1:36Speaker 1: citizens being falsely flagged as non-citizens. The court's ruling reinforces
- 1:42Speaker 1: the independence of state election infrastructure and guarantees that local
- 1:46Speaker 1: registrars can process ballots without fear of federal intimidation or
- 1:51Speaker 1: administrative overreach. While the Department of Justice has signaled its
- 1:55Speaker 1: intent to seek an emergency appeal in higher federal courts,
- 1:59Speaker 1: state election directors across the nation have welcomed the decision
- 2:03Speaker 1: as a critical safeguard for state sovereignty and orderly vote countings.