25-09-2026
The US Supreme Court has lifted restrictions on the Trump administration’s use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to help states check whether voters are US citizens. The court’s conservative majority said federal law allows the Department of Homeland Security to provide citizenship and immigration data to states that request it. The decision does not permit broad voter-roll purges in the weeks before an election, however, and states are not required to use the programme.
The ruling overturned a federal judge’s decision that the expanded database violated Americans’ privacy rights. That judge found the government had used sensitive information, including Social Security data, in a way that threatened the right to vote. The Supreme Court’s three liberal justices dissented. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned that wrongly burdening or disenfranchising eligible voters would cause greater harm than stopping the government from taking an action it may lack authority to take.
Voting rights groups criticized the decision, saying the database could wrongly target eligible voters ahead of the midterm elections. The administration argues SAVE is lawful and needed to prevent non-citizens from voting. Twenty-seven states use the system, but critics cite errors: in Travis County, Texas, at least 10% of nearly 100 people flagged as non-citizens were reportedly US citizens. Since Texas began using SAVE, only three non-citizens have been charged with illegal voting in the state.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger defended his office’s checks, saying officials verify flagged records and sometimes interview voters to avoid denying anyone the right to vote. The article places the ruling within the Trump administration’s broader efforts to change election rules, including a previously rejected effort to restrict mail-in ballots. It also notes that past voter-removal figures in Texas were far below claims by Trump and DHS of hundreds of thousands of non-citizen voters.
Entities: US Supreme Court, Donald Trump, Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE), Department of Homeland Security, National Voter Registration Act • Tone: analytical • Sentiment: negative • Intent: inform
25-09-2026
The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily lifted restrictions on the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE voter-verification database, allowing states to use it while litigation continues. The ruling is a temporary victory for President Donald Trump’s campaign to identify non-citizens on voter rolls. The program’s use is voluntary, and the immediate effect before November’s midterm elections may be limited: federal law generally prevents most states from systematically removing voters within 90 days of an election. Election law expert David Becker said states could use SAVE alongside other tools, while recognizing that the database is imperfect.
A federal district judge had ruled that the administration’s expanded version of SAVE violated laws and Americans’ privacy rights, and could lead to eligible voters being wrongly removed. The Supreme Court majority said a 1996 law permits DHS to obtain citizenship and immigration information from other federal agencies and that the federal government must respond to states seeking verification. Three liberal-leaning justices dissented. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned that mistaken removals could disenfranchise lawful voters, and plaintiffs said the ruling could put millions at risk.
The article describes evidence of errors: Travis County, Texas, found that at least 10 per cent—and possibly as many as 21 per cent—of 97 voters flagged by SAVE as apparent non-citizens were U.S. citizens. The administration says at least 67 million registrations have been scanned. DHS has also launched a separate investigation into non-citizens on state voter rolls, which a whistleblower alleged was rushed and error-prone; DHS says it is being conducted professionally.
The decision is part of Trump’s broader effort to change how U.S. elections are run. Many of his initiatives have been blocked in court, and the Supreme Court recently rejected his attempt to restrict mail-ballot procedures. Non-citizen voting is already illegal and research indicates it is exceptionally rare, although Trump has repeatedly claimed it is widespread.
Entities: Donald Trump, U.S. Supreme Court, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE), David Becker • Tone: analytical • Sentiment: neutral • Intent: inform
25-09-2026
The US Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to resume using an expanded federal immigration database to check the citizenship status of registered voters ahead of November’s midterm elections. The court blocked a lower-court order that had barred state officials from using Social Security numbers and other information to compare voter registrations with federal records. The administration says the checks protect election integrity, while critics argue that the system is unreliable and could remove eligible voters from the rolls, particularly voters who lean Democratic. The dispute also concerns the federal government’s role in elections, which the Constitution primarily assigns to the states.
The database, known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE), was redesigned by the Department of Homeland Security to allow searches of multiple records and searches using Social Security numbers. Some Republican-led states have already used it, and voters flagged as possible noncitizens have had registrations cancelled. In June, US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan blocked the revised system, describing its citizenship data as unreliable and criticizing its impact on privacy and voting rights. An appeals court declined to pause her order, prompting the administration to seek Supreme Court intervention.
The article notes that noncitizen voting is exceptionally rare. A 2024 review of Heritage Foundation data found 68 proven cases since 2000—less than 0.0001 percent of total votes—with the foundation’s database adding 21 cases afterward. Voting-rights groups say the revised SAVE system has wrongly identified naturalized citizens and cite reports of high error rates in Texas and Missouri. The system’s overall error rate is not publicly known; federal agencies did not provide it when asked. The League of Women Voters and the Electronic Privacy Information Center sued over the changes, alleging violations of privacy and other laws. Texas disputes claims that the system is unreliable. Separate litigation has allowed the administration to keep using the modified database in Florida, Iowa, Indiana and Ohio.
Entities: Donald Trump, US Supreme Court, US Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) • Tone: analytical • Sentiment: negative • Intent: inform
