The Trump administration still aims to make state citizenship lists ahead of midterms

The project, described in court filings as unprecedented, would compile lists of adults the administration has determined are eligible U.S. Citizens over 18 in each state. The administration told opposing attorneys in two separate lawsuits that instead of hitting the 60-day-before-Election-Day target, it would give plaintiffs' counsel 48 hours notice before the portal goes live.

For voters in Lubbock and across Texas, the implications are still unclear. Texas already has stricter voter verification requirements, and how a federal citizenship portal would interact with existing state voter rolls is an open question that neither the administration nor court filings have answered. The lawsuits suggest the project faces legal challenges before it even launches.

No such comprehensive national citizenship list has ever been attempted, which makes it difficult to know what the data would include, who controls it, or how states would be expected to use it once the portal is actually up.