AUSTIN, Texas _ Calling the state's investigation into the citizenship of registered voters a flawed process and a "mess" made by Secretary of State David Whitley, a federal judge Wednesday blocked all Texas counties from demanding that suspect voters provide proof that they are U.S. citizens.
The order by U.S. District Judge Fred Biery noted that three days of testimony in his San Antonio courtroom showed there is no widespread voter fraud in Texas.
"The challenge is how to ferret the infinitesimal needles out of the haystack of 15 million Texas voters," he wrote, concluding that the process announced by Whitley on Jan. 25 fell short of protections required by the U.S. Constitution and appeared to be "a solution looking for a problem."
The list of 95,000 voters that Whitley sent to counties for further investigation included at least 25,000 people who were quickly revealed to be naturalized U.S. citizens _ a discovery that Biery labeled an "oops moment" for the government.
"Perfectly legal naturalized Americans were burdened with what the Court finds to be ham-handed and threatening correspondence from the state which did not politely ask for information but rather exemplifies the power of government to strike fear and anxiety and to intimidate the least powerful among us," Biery wrote.
"No native-born Americans were subjected to such treatment," he added.
Biery's order blocked counties, which are in charge of voter registration, from sending Notifications of Examination to those on the secretary of state's list of suspect voters. The notices give recipients 30 days to provide proof of citizenship and says voter registration will automatically be canceled if no response is received.
Counties can continue examining whether people on the list are U.S. citizens, "so long as it is done without communicating directly with any particular individual on the list," the judge said.
Wednesday's order was in response to a request by state lawyers to dismiss lawsuits seeking to block the state citizenship investigation. Biery is awaiting additional briefing before ruling on whether to grant an injunction requested by civil rights groups and voters affected by the investigation.
