League of Women Voters Sue USCIS, DHS Over Voter Registration Ban

Posted November 20, 2025

On Tuesday, the League of Women Voters (LWV) and five state and local Leagues, including the League of Women Voters of Colorado, filed a lawsuit against the federal government because of anti-voter actions.

We’re suing the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the US Department of Homeland Security, and other federal officials for enacting, without following the required process, a new rule that bars nonpartisan civic engagement groups from providing voter registration and civic engagement at administrative naturalization ceremonies.

The complaint highlights the efforts of the League of Women Voters of Denver, Larimer, Boulder, Greeley-Weld, Estes Park, and Arapahoe Douglas Counties to provide voter education and registration services at administrative naturalization ceremonies.

“Purposely excluding groups like the League from administrative naturalization ceremonies is a deliberate move by this administration to exclude new citizens from the democratic process and attack the League’s very mission to register and support new voters,” said Celina Stewart, CEO of LWV.

The newly enacted rule violates the First Amendment rights of the League and other civic groups. Also, it fails to adhere to provisions that require federal agencies to follow transparent procedures when adopting new policies.

“This is a deeply troubling moment for our democracy,” said Beth Hendrix, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Colorado. “By working to silence the League of Women Voters, the federal government is sending a chilling message that civic participation is something to be controlled. This sets a dangerous precedent, and one that we cannot allow to stand.”

The League of Women Voters has, over the course of decades, registered hundreds of thousands of new U.S. citizens to vote after naturalization ceremonies nationwide. As a result of USCIS’s rule change, however, state and local Leagues have already been forced to cancel at least 166 planned voter registration events, where League members and volunteers expected to register approximately 10,000 new voters.