Judge orders halt to Trump voter probes in 9 states, stays ruling for appeal

A federal judge in California has ordered a temporary stop to federal investigations into suspected noncitizen voter registration across nine states. She ruled that officials relied on unreliable data and risked frightening eligible voters. US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, who is based in Oakland, issued an order blocking the federal investigations until polls close on Election Day, 3 November. However, she put her own ruling on hold until Friday, 23 October, to give federal lawyers time to file an emergency appeal. The decision affects federal investigations in nine states: California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.Flawed data driving investigationsThe court's action followed growing concerns about how the federal investigation was being carried out.