The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to resume using an expanded federal database to verify the citizenship of registered voters. The Sept. 25 order puts a lower court ruling that blocked the revamped system on hold while the administration’s appeal continues.
The 6-3 decision allows the Department of Homeland Security to use the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, known as SAVE, alongside Social Security records when responding to requests from state and local officials seeking to verify voter citizenship.
DHS redesigned SAVE in 2025, expanding the system so officials could conduct large-scale searches and use Social Security numbers when checking citizenship and immigration status. At least 67 million voter registrations have since been checked through the system, according to the Associated Press.
US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan blocked the expanded system in June. She found that its use of Social Security and other personal information violated federal privacy protections and could result in eligible US citizens being wrongly identified as noncitizens. A federal appeals court later declined to put her ruling on hold.
The Trump administration then asked the Supreme Court to intervene. Justice Department lawyers argued that the lower court order prevented the federal government from using information it is authorized by law to obtain when helping states verify citizenship.
In its unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court majority said the challengers’ legal claims were unlikely to succeed. The justices pointed to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which authorizes DHS to request and receive citizenship and immigration information from other federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration.
The majority also said the federal government has an obligation to respond when state and local election officials request citizenship verification.
“The order below prevents the Federal Government from using the program it believes is best suited to the task,” the majority wrote.
DHS General Counsel James Percival praised the ruling, saying the administration had been forced to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court so federal data could be used to help states identify noncitizens who may be registered to vote.
Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.
Jackson argued that connecting SAVE with Social Security data fell outside the limits Congress placed on the system and said the majority did not give enough weight to the possibility that lawful voters could be incorrectly flagged.
The ruling does not require states to use SAVE, and federal law generally limits systematic voter-roll removals during the 90 days before a federal election. That could limit the ruling’s immediate effect ahead of the November midterms.
The Supreme Court’s order is temporary and allows the expanded SAVE system to operate while litigation over its legality continues. The justices have not issued a final ruling on the merits of the case.