Gov. Rick Scott applauded a federal judge who on Wednesday declined to impose a temporary restraining order that would block the state’s effort to clear noncitizens from the lists of Florida’s voters.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle turned down a request by the U.S. Department of Justice to prohibit state elections officials from removing suspected noncitizens from the lists of registered voters.

“The court made a common-sense decision consistent with what I’ve been saying all along: that irreparable harm will result if noncitizens are allowed to vote,” Scott stated in a release.  

“Today’s ruling puts the burden on the federal government to provide Florida with access to the Department of Homeland Security’s citizenship database. We know from just a small sample that an alarming number of noncitizens are on the voter rolls and many of them have illegally voted in past elections. The federal government has the power to prevent such irreparable harm from continuing, and Florida once again implores them to grant access to the SAVE database.”

The DOJ has argued that the state is violating the National Voter Registration Act, claiming the state needed federal approve to conduct the review as it is being undertaken within 90 days of an election, and the Voting Rights Act, which requires Florida gets preclearance for voting-related changes in five counties -- Collier, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough and Monroe.

The state has filed its own lawsuit against the federal government claiming the Obama administration has kept the state from accessing the Department of Homeland Security database needed to assist in the review.