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A federal judge in California has ordered President Donald Trump’s<\/a> administration to halt investigations in nine states into whether noncitizens are registered to vote.<\/p>\n U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin in Oakland found the government’s effort is relying on data that is full of errors<\/a> and that it’s leading to intimidation of groups performing voter assistance efforts. She said it should be halted until polls close on Election Day, Nov. 3.<\/p>\n She put her ruling, which was made Wednesday, on hold until Friday to give the administration a chance to appeal.<\/p>\n The ruling applies to investigations in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n It comes as the Trump administration has been hunting for noncitizen voters<\/a> throughout the country in the months leading into the midterm elections. The administration has signaled that it’s a major problem, when in fact it’s quite rare<\/a>, as even its own investigations<\/a> have shown.<\/p>\n The lawsuit was filed by the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, along with the Voto Latino Foundation, San Francisco and Santa Clara County. A request for comment to the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately returned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n