Federal judge lets Iowa continue to challenge voter rolls, although newly naturalized citizens might be affected

 A federal judge ruled Sunday Iowa officials can continue challenging the validity of hundreds of ballots from potential noncitizens, even though critics said the effort threatens the voting rights of people who have recently become US citizens.

US District Judge Stephen Locher, an appointee of President Joe Biden, sided with the state in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the League of Latin American Citizens of Iowa and four recently naturalized citizens. The four were on the state’s list of questionable registrations to be challenged by local elections officials.

The state’s attorney general and secretary of state argued investigating and potentially removing 2,000 names would prevent illegal voting by noncitizens.

In his ruling Sunday, Locher pointed to a US Supreme Court decision four days prior, which allowed Virginia to resume a similar purge of its voter registration rolls, even though it was affecting some U.S. citizens. He also cited the Supreme Court’s recent refusal to review a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision on state electoral laws surrounding provisional ballots. The Supreme Court decisions advised lower courts to “act with great caution before awarding last-minute injunctive relief,” he wrote.

Locher also said the state’s effort does not remove anyone from the voter rolls, but rather requires some voters to use provisional ballots