Federal Court Strikes Down DOJ Voter Roll Purge Policy

What if the deadline to protect your right to vote had already passed — and you never knew you were removed? That is the real situation the court addressed in Common Cause v. U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Action No. 26-1352, decided in October 2026 by Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The ruling vacated a Civil Rights Division policy that demanded voter registration lists from all 50 states, ran those lists through a citizenship-status database the DOJ itself knew was inaccurate, and then urged states to remove voters flagged as potentially ineligible — including confirmed U.S. citizens.

What the Court Found — and Why It Matters for Immigrants

Judge Sooknanan found the policy unlawful on four independent grounds. First, none of the three statutes DOJ cited — the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) — actually authorized the policy. Those laws were written to expand voting access, not to give the federal government power to order states to remove voters. Second, the policy was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), a law that requires federal agencies to act rationally and follow proper procedures. Third, the policy violated the Privacy Act, a 1974 law that restricts how federal agencies collect and share Americans' personal data — the DOJ never published the required public notice before building its voter-data system. Fourth, the policy violated the Paperwork Reduction Act.

For naturalized citizens and long-term green card holders who have recently become citizens, the stakes are direct. The DOJ's database cross-check flagged people based on old or incorrect citizenship records. Naturalized citizens — whose status may not be instantly reflected in every federal database — were among those at risk of wrongful removal. The court was explicit: the policy had already removed U.S. citizens from voter rolls in their home states. The ruling does not stop states from maintaining their own voter rolls through lawful means, and it does not open elections to ineligible voters. It stops only this specific federal policy.

The DOJ argued that every registered voter is effectively the subject of a voter fraud investigation simply by virtue of having registered. Judge Sooknanan rejected that framing. The court held that Congress placed voter roll authority with the states — not the federal executive branch — and that the Constitution has always reflected that structure. The Civil Rights Division, the court noted, was created in 1957 to protect the right to vote, not to restrict it.

What to Do

• If you are a naturalized U.S. citizen, check your voter registration status directly with your state's election office or at vote.gov — do not assume your registration is intact.
• If you were removed from the voter rolls and believe it was in error, contact your state or county election board immediately to request reinstatement; bring your naturalization certificate (Form N-550 or N-570) as proof of citizenship.
• If you are currently in the naturalization process (filing Form N-400, the application for U.S. citizenship), ask your immigration lawyer whether your citizenship record will be correctly reflected in federal databases after your oath ceremony.
• Follow updates from Common Cause and your state's secretary of state office — the DOJ may appeal this ruling, which could affect how long the policy stays vacated.

What to do, step by step — see our guide “Appealing to the BIA”.