Biden’s judge rules that the state can audit the ballots of potential non-citizens

A federal judge has allowed Iowa officials to proceed contesting ballots cast by potential non-citizens less than two days before election day.

Judge Stephen Locher, an appointee of President Biden, ruled in the president’s favor Hawkeye State on Sunday. The state was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of four recently documented U.S. citizens and the League of Latin American Citizens of Iowa.

Iowa officials, including Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, recently attempted to investigate more than 2,000 names on voter rolls that may belong to noncitizens.

At a press conference on Oct. 30, Pate said officials “have questions” about noncitizens voting illegally and that they “need answers.”

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Poll worker holds American flag

A poll worker holds an American flag at a voting booth at a polling place. (Ian Maule/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“That’s why none of them were taken off the voter rolls,” Pate said, according to the Des Moines Register. “But we are obliged to ensure that they are now citizens.”

“That’s why we asked the county auditors, through the poll workers, to challenge those votes, to allow them to confirm their citizenship so that we can count their votes as well.”

In this case, the ACLU had argued that the state’s efforts threaten the voting rights of recently naturalized citizens. Judge Locher ruled that Iowa officials would not remove anyone from the voting rolls, but would instead require them to use provisional ballots.

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Trump flag

A farmer expresses his support for Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, and gives his views on abortion on August 10, 2024, near Hawkeye, Iowa. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The ruling came a day after a shocking poll found that Vice President Kamala Harris has a three-point lead in Iowa, contrary to previous reports that Iowa is a safely red state.

The Trump campaign immediately disputed the results, favoring the Emerson College polls instead.

“Emerson College, released today, much more closely reflects the state of the actual electorate in Iowa and does so with much more transparency in their methodology,” the campaign memo said.

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Polling station

A shocking poll showed Vice President Kamala Harris with a three-point lead in Iowa. (iStock)

The ACLU did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.