TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge rejected a request from the Obama administration to put an immediate stop to the state’s non-citizen voter purge program.

The Justice Department had asked for a restraining order, arguing that the program attempting to remove 2,600 non-citizens from the voter rolls violated federal voting law that prohibits the systemic removal of voters 90 days before an election.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle said that, according to his reading of the law, the 90-day provision did not apply to removing non-citizens from the rolls. But, he also chastised the state, saying there were “some problems” with the way that the program had been carried out.