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A federal judge has struck down the Trump administration’s plan to check state voter rolls against federal immigration databases, a blow to the administration’s election-related efforts in the run-up to the midterms. 

In a 78-page ruling, D.C.-based U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan wrote Friday that the Justice Department “cannot run roughshod over longstanding laws that were carefully crafted to protect the rights of the American people.”

The Trump administration has mounted a nationwide push to obtain complete voter rolls from every state, including sensitive information about registered voters. The Justice Department has argued the information is needed to ensure states are complying with two federal voting laws — the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act — which aim to ensure states have programs in place for maintaining accurate voter rolls.

Eighteen states fully cooperated with the Justice Department’s request for voter files, Sooknanan said. The department has brought lawsuits against most other states, and has lost almost all of the suits, according to a WTX US News analysis. One state settled with the federal government.

The ruling applies to the voter files that the Justice Department has already received, as well as the files it is still litigating over.

Sooknanan rejected the Justice Department’s argument that it has legal authority to demand voter lists, compare those lists against citizenship databases and urge states to remove voters who it claims are ineligible to vote. The judge also said the policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Privacy Act, and said the federal databases could contain “inaccuracies.”

“Today’s decision does not prevent the federal government from taking lawful steps to support states’ efforts to maintain accurate voter rolls. Neither does it prevent states from maintaining their own voter rolls. And to state the obvious, the Court’s decision does not pave the way for ineligible voters to vote in our elections,” Sooknanan wrote. “Rather, the Court vacates a policy that has removed United States citizens from the voter rolls in their home states and risks disenfranchising many more — a policy that flies in the face of duly enacted laws designed to protect Americans.”

She continued: “The challenged policy represents the federal government’s attempt to decide who gets to vote. But Congress has left that authority where our Constitution has always placed it: with the states.”

The legal challenge against the voter roll policy was brought by advocacy group Common Cause and individual voters.

Common Cause CEO Virginia Kase Solomón called the ruling “a victory for voters and yet another loss for the Department of Justice” in a statement Friday.

A Justice Department spokesperson said the agency is reviewing the decision.

Under the Trump administration, the federal government has sought a larger-than-usual role in elections, which are typically administered by states with some regulation by Congress. President Trump argues more federal scrutiny is necessary in order to prevent noncitizens from voting and curb fraud — though most election experts say fraud and noncitizen voting are extremely rare.

The government’s push to run state voter rolls through the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database has faced court setbacks, as more than two dozen judges have denied the Justice Department’s requests to compel individual states to share their voter lists.

Sooknanan also ruled in June that the Trump administration’s overhauled SAVE database — which includes data from the Social Security Administration — was created unlawfully. The Supreme Court temporarily paused that ruling last month.

In practice, the impact of recent court rulings on the November midterms could be limited as federal law bars states from systematically removing ineligible voters from their voter registration lists within 90 days of an election.

Another Trump administration policy that set new rules for the U.S. Postal Service’s handling of mail-in ballots was also blocked in the courts, with the Supreme Court declining the government’s request to allow the rules to take effect.

Washington — He still calls himself the “hope guy.” Former President Barack Obama, who ran on “hope and change,” is resurrecting his signature campaign slogan in a new series of digital ads for the Democratic National Committee that were viewed exclusively by WTX US News.  

“I’ll be honest with you: I never imagined some of the stuff that’s been going on in our country lately,” Obama said in a direct-to-camera message. “But I am energized by the millions of Americans who are taking a stand and demanding change, even when it’s hard. That’s what hope is all about.” 

During one 52-second spot, the former president never mentions President Trump by name but opines about the difficulties of the last two years and urges Democrats to “win one of the most consequential elections in our country’s history.”

“The most powerful office in this country has always been ‘citizen,'” Obama stated. “And right now, every one of us can help turn hope into action.”

The six-figure ad buy across platforms is aimed at supporting the DNC’s mobilization efforts, driving voter turnout and boosting grassroots fundraising, according to a DNC official.

“Democrats are heading into November with the wind at our backs and momentum on our side, but we’re not taking anything for granted,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement to WTX US News. “President Obama’s support will motivate and mobilize voters in the home stretch and help Democrats across the country win in races up and down the ballot.”

As one of the party’s leading surrogates, WTX US News has learned the former president has raised more than $13.6 million for Democrats through roughly half a dozen finance events and direct mail campaigns for the DNC and party committees since last year. That includes raking in more than $3.6 million this week at a fundraiser he headlined for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Northern Virginia. 

“There are states right now in play that I would not have imagined being in play,” Obama told donors during a fireside chat Wednesday night, according to excerpts provided to WTX US News. “If you had told me that the polling currently shows James Talarico ahead of Ken Paxton — now, Paxton helps. And James is an outstanding candidate. But if had you told me that he was going to be up in the polls this late, I would have said, ‘eh, I don’t think so.'”

“The point is, the reason I’m saying this is I don’t want anyone to think this is a sure thing,” he continued. “But we have a chance.” 

Over the past several days, Obama has made endorsements in key Senate races from Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff to Maine Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson. He also backed several gubernatorial candidates including Wisconsin’s David Crowley, Georgia’s Keisha Lance Bottoms, New Mexico’s Deb Haaland and Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro. The ads were among nearly two dozen he recently taped for Democratic candidates. In past cycles, the former president has also recorded robocalls for House candidates.   

Obama is also expected to hit the campaign trail with additional activities likely to be announced in the coming days. One of those stops includes Michigan, where he will campaign with Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed on Oct. 24. 

“I’m going to go to Michigan to campaign for Abdul El-Sayed,” Obama said at Wednesday’s fundraiser. “And people are like, ‘Well, he’s really left wing.’ But I don’t know — he’s for a higher minimum wage and healthcare for all, and it doesn’t seem crazy to me. You know, FDR was for that, too.”

Earlier this year, Obama appeared with other candidates, shooting hoops with Josh Turek in Iowa and getting tacos in Texas with Talarico and gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa. His strategy this fall is centered around where he can “move the needle” with Democrats and persuadable voters, according to his office.

That approach is on full display in his latest ad.

“Use that hope to make a difference,” he said. “Get involved.”