Federal judge blocks use of expanded SAVE voter verification system

A federal judge on Monday issued a ruling that the Department of Homeland Security's expanded SAVE system, which aggregates personal data to verify voter eligibility, is unlawful and must cease operation in its current form. The decision follows a lawsuit alleging that the overhaul combined and repurposed private information of millions of Americans without proper statutory authority or compliance with the Privacy Act, the Social Security Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

SAVE, originally managed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for benefit eligibility checks, was modified last year to allow bulk checks and to link with Social Security Administration data, extending its scope to include records of U.S.-born citizens. The judge noted that the changes were implemented "haphazardly" and relied on unreliable citizenship data, leading to erroneous flags of foreign-born citizens as potential noncitizens.

Under the ruling, the overhauled tool cannot be used, though the administration had previously incorporated SAVE checks into its voting policy, including an executive order signed on March 31 directing DHS to generate state-by-state lists of eligible citizen voters. More than 60 million voter records have reportedly been processed through the system, with about 21,000 flagged as potential noncitizens.

The decision was welcomed by plaintiffs, including the League of Women Voters, which called the ruling "a resounding victory for voters." The federal government has indicated it may appeal the judgment.

The case highlights ongoing legal challenges to federal efforts to create a centralized voter database and underscores concerns about privacy rights and the reliability of large-scale data matching for election purposes.