US Supreme Court lets states resume voter citizenship checks
The decision allows state officials to use an expanded federal database while legal challenges continue. The system’s overall error rate is not publicly known.
The US Supreme Court has blocked a lower-court order barring state officials from using the Trump administration’s expanded federal SAVE database to check registered voters’ citizenship against federal records. The decision allows the checks to proceed while litigation continues.
The Department of Homeland Security revised SAVE to enable searches across multiple records and searches using Social Security numbers. The administration says the checks address non-citizen voting; the Justice Department argued the lower-court restriction threatened the integrity of November’s midterm elections.
Critics say records can be outdated or unreliable, potentially flagging eligible voters. Advocacy groups told the court that some people identified as non-citizens had already proved their citizenship. The report says some flagged registrations in Republican-led states have been cancelled; a database match alone does not establish that a voter is ineligible.
The system’s overall error rate is not publicly known. Texas, which supports the administration in the case, disputes claims that the system is unreliable.
Non-citizen voting is rare. A 2024 review of Heritage Foundation data found 68 proven cases since 2000; the foundation’s database has since added 21 cases. Separate litigation has already allowed the modified system’s use in Florida, Iowa, Indiana and Ohio.
