Justice Department Says Trump's 50-State Citizenship Lists Would Be Unreliable for Voter Checks
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 24
Justice Department Says Trump's 50-State Citizenship Lists Would Be Unreliable for Voter Checks
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 24
A federal court hearing in Washington surfaced the Justice Department’s concession that the state-by-state citizenship lists ordered by Trump would likely be unreliable for determining voter eligibility.
Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security in March to build lists for all 50 states, arguing they would help stop noncitizens from voting despite his administration’s inability to substantiate that claim as widespread.
Democratic-led states and voting-rights groups have sued to block the executive order, arguing the Constitution does not give the executive branch explicit authority over elections.
The push extends Trump’s long-running effort to use federal citizenship data in election policy, after a failed 2019 bid tied to the 2020 census and a strict voter-ID bill now stalled in the Senate.
What protects eligible citizens from being purged by voter lists built on unreliable data?
How can national voter lists be reliable if their federal data sources are admittedly flawed?