The Ninth Circuit on October 30 refused to lift a preliminary injunction that sharply restricts the Trump administration’s investigations into potential noncitizen voting in nine states, leaving the block in place through Election Day.
A majority of nonrecused active judges declined en banc rehearing of the panel’s order denying a stay.
Seven judges, led by Judge Eric Tung and joined by Judges Consuelo Callahan, Ryan Nelson, Daniel Collins, Daniel Bress, Patrick Bumatay, and Lawrence VanDyke, dissented forcefully.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Biden-appointed U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín (Northern District of California) issued the sweeping preliminary injunction on October 21 in California Nurses Association et al. v. Mullin et al.
The order bars DHS, ICE, USCIS, HSI, and related officials from conducting elections-related field operations and field interviews in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin when those operations “involve or are likely to involve” persons the government “know[s], suspect[s], or should reasonably know or suspect are U.S. citizens.”
It also restricts operations based wholly on certain TECS records generated under the administration’s Voter Eligibility Matching Policy. The injunction runs through November 3, 2026 (Election Day).
The plaintiffs, primarily the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, along with San Francisco, Santa Clara County, and Voto Latino, claimed the investigations intimidated voters and those assisting them in violation of Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act.