Federal judge halts Trump administration noncitizen voting probe in California

A federal judge in Oakland has ordered the Trump administration to stop investigations into whether noncitizens are registered to vote in nine states, including California, according to the Daily News and AOL.com.

U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin found that the government's efforts rely on flawed data and have intimidated groups providing voter assistance, leading her to halt the probes until after the November 3 election, the Daily News reported.

The ruling applies to investigations in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin, as noted by multiple sources including the Daily News and AOL.com.

The judge delayed enforcing her ruling until Friday to allow the administration time to appeal, according to the Daily News.

The lawsuit prompting the ruling was filed by the California Nurses Association, National Nurses United, and the Voto Latino Foundation, along with San Francisco and Santa Clara County, the Daily News said.

The Department of Homeland Security responded by saying it focuses on removing noncitizens who vote illegally and does not plan to investigate people believed to be U.S. citizens, per the Daily News.

Judge Martinez-Olguin's decision was based on the unions' claims that the investigations harm voter assistance efforts but did not find that citizens' voting rights were infringed, since most union members vote by mail, the Daily News reported.