Supreme Court Allows Trump Admin to Use Voter Roll Database
Supreme Court clears way for Trump administration to use expanded database to remove illegal aliens from voter rolls.
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can use an expanded voter citizenship verification system to remove illegal aliens and non-citizens from voter rolls. The decision allows the administration to leverage the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which utilizes Social Security records to verify voters’ citizenship.
SAVE Program and Legal Background
The SAVE program was initially designed to ensure that government benefits are not provided to non-citizens. In 2025, the administration expanded its scope to include verifying voter eligibility, leading to the scanning of at least 67 million voter registrations. The Supreme Court’s ruling determined that the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 permits DHS to gather citizenship and immigration data from federal agencies to assist state and local election officials.
Legal Challenges and Dissents
U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan, a Biden appointee, had previously blocked the program in June, citing privacy concerns and the risk of wrongly removing citizens from the voter rolls. The Supreme Court’s majority opinion stated that the Federal Government has an obligation to respond to requests from election officials seeking to verify voter citizenship. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, arguing that the harm of disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the minimal risk to government operations.
Recent Enforcement Actions
The Department of Justice announced on Sept. 18 that it charged 16 individuals across seven states with illegally voting, registering under false citizenship claims, and related fraud. Additionally, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested an illegal alien, Mariana Alexandra Dewey, on Sept. 1 for allegedly voting illegally in the 2024 presidential election. Democratic New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill’s administration also revealed in August that 220 noncitizens had a history of illegally voting in the state, as reported by The New Jersey Globe.
Impact on Midterm Elections
The ruling is unlikely to significantly affect the upcoming midterm elections, as most states prohibit removing voters from their rolls within 90 days of an election. This legal framework limits the immediate impact of the SAVE program on voter participation, even as the administration continues to enforce its expanded verification efforts.
Source: Daily Caller
