一名美国法官裁定，司法部非法获取各州的选民名册，以与联邦移民数据库进行交叉核对，并识别其认为不符合资格的选民。
A United States judge has ruled that the Justice Department unlawfully sought state voter rolls to cross-check against a federal immigration database and identify voters it considered ineligible.
美国地区法官斯帕克尔·苏克纳南周五作出的这一裁决，对唐纳德·特朗普总统试图在中期选举前扩大联邦对选举监督的努力构成了又一次挫折，而共和党人正试图维持对国会的控制。
US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s decision on Friday marks another setback for President Donald Trump’s efforts to expand federal oversight of elections ahead of the midterms, as Republicans seek to retain control of Congress.
在一份支持监督组织“共同行动”（Common Cause）的78页裁决中，苏克纳南表示，由于“系统性外国人资格验证”（SAVE）数据库存在不准确之处，该政府低估了错误将符合资格的公民从选民名册中除名的风险。
In a 78-page ruling siding with watchdog group Common Cause, Sooknanan said the administration had understated the risk of wrongly removing eligible citizens from voter rolls because of inaccuracies in the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database.
苏克纳南写道：“这项受到质疑的政策代表了联邦政府试图决定谁有投票权的行为。”她还补充说，国会已将这一权力下放给各州。司法部表示，他们正在审议这一裁决。
“The challenged policy represents the federal government’s attempt to decide who gets to vote,” Sooknanan wrote, adding that Congress had left that authority to the states. The Justice Department said it was reviewing the ruling.
美国公民自由联盟（ACLU）投票权项目的高级律师明·张表示，该裁决明确表明，政府不能利用联邦权力扰乱选举或危及选民权利。
Ming Cheung, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, said the ruling made clear that the administration could not use the federal government to disrupt elections or put voters’ rights at risk.
张在一份声明中说：“特朗普政府一再采取极端措施，干涉选举的运作方式，削弱人们对选举结果的信任，并制造混乱。”
“The Trump administration has repeatedly taken extreme measures to interfere with how elections are run, undermine confidence in the results, and create confusion,” Cheung said in a statement.
去年，尽管有研究证明选举欺诈极为罕见，特朗普仍指示司法部严厉打击不符合资格者的投票行为。随后，司法部要求近全部50个州提供未经删减的选民名册，其中包括敏感的个人信息。
Last year, Trump directed the department to crack down on voting by ineligible people, despite research showing voter fraud is rare. The department subsequently demanded unredacted voter rolls from nearly all 50 states, including sensitive personal information.
18个州（主要由共和党领导）予以配合。司法部将这些数据与SAVE数据库进行交叉核对，并将被识别为非公民的人员标记出来，以便可能将其从选民名册中移除。
Eighteen states, mostly Republican-led, complied. The department cross-checked their data against SAVE and flagged people identified as noncitizens for potential removal from voter rolls.
苏克纳南指出，该数据库可能包含过时的公民身份记录，这可能导致对已归化美国公民的错误识别。
Sooknanan said the database could contain outdated citizenship records, potentially misidentifying naturalised US citizens.
该部门还因30个州和华盛顿特区拒绝提供选民数据而对其提起诉讼。其中26起案件已被驳回。
The department has also sued 30 states and Washington, DC, over their refusal to provide voter data. Twenty-six cases have been dismissed.
今年6月，在另一起案件中，苏克纳南阻止了将SAVE数据库扩大用于核查选民名册，而美国最高法院上个月暂时中止了这一命令。
In a separate case in June, Sooknanan blocked the expanded use of the SAVE database for voter roll checks, an order the US Supreme Court temporarily paused last month.
联邦法律禁止在联邦选举前90天内系统性清理选民名册，这可能会限制该裁决在11月3日投票前产生的实际影响。
Federal law bars systematic voter roll purges in the 90 days before a federal election, which could limit the ruling’s practical effect before the November 3 vote.