President Donald Trump had called for that and other changes to U.S. elections in an executive order signed in March, arguing the U.S. “fails to enforce basic and necessary election protections" that exist in other countries.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington sided with Democrats and some other groups to grant a preliminary injunction to stop the citizenship requirement from moving forward while the lawsuit plays out.
But she denied other requests from a group of Democratic plaintiffs, including refusing to block Trump's order to tighten mail ballot deadlines. Also denied in the order was the Democrats' request to stop Trump from directing the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Government Efficiency to review state voter lists alongside immigration databases.
Michael Gates, counsel for the Trump administration, said in the hearing a preliminary injunction wasn’t warranted because the order hadn’t been implemented and a citizenship requirement would not be on the federal voter registration form for many months.
The parties in the case didn't immediately comment on the judge's Thursday order.
