Supreme Court Allows Use of DHS SAVE Database for Voter Roll Checks Ahead of Midterms
The Court lifted a lower-court injunction, permitting the Trump administration and states to use the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE system to screen voter rolls for non-citizens, though the change is unlikely to affect the upcoming election due to federal timing rules.
The Supreme Court issued a decision that overturns a June district-court order blocking modifications to the Department of Homeland Security's Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database. The ruling enables the Trump administration and state election officials to employ the database to conduct bulk checks of voter registration lists for potential non-citizen status.
Under the National Voter Registration Act’s 90-day pre-election restriction, the timing of the decision means the new authority is not expected to result in immediate voter removals before the November midterm elections.
The SAVE system, originally created to track non-citizens known to DHS, does not contain a comprehensive list of all non-citizens in the United States. Critics note that the database has documented mismatches and errors, including cases in Texas where individuals were incorrectly flagged.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in a dissent, warned that the expanded use of SAVE could lead to the disenfranchisement of recently naturalized citizens. According to Votebeat’s editorial director, Jessica Huseman, county election officials remain responsible for final decisions on voter-roll removals and typically perform additional verification before acting on federal matches.
The Court’s order comes days after it also struck down a Trump-backed congressional map in Missouri that could have added a Republican-leaning district.