The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the federal government to temporarily resume using an expanded federal data system to check the citizenship status of people registered to vote in state elections. The system, known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE), was originally created about 40 years ago to verify the immigration status of non-citizens applying for certain public benefits. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has since updated the system to compare voter-registration information with federal records.
Under the updated system, DHS connected SAVE with Social Security Administration records, which contain information on most Americans. The changes also made it possible to process voter information in large batches. DHS encouraged states to submit their voter-registration lists so the federal government could check whether registered voters were U.S. citizens and whether federal records identified them as deceased. Many states provided their voter lists, and tens of millions of records were processed before a federal judge stopped the program in June.
The federal government has argued that the updated system helps states identify people who may be ineligible to vote. In an appeal to the Supreme Court, Solicitor General D. John Sauer said that the system had checked more than 65 million voters across 26 states since May 2025 and had identified 28,635 people as potential noncitizens. The federal government argued that blocking the system makes it more difficult to identify potentially ineligible voters. The Supreme Court majority also said the lower court’s decision could limit the federal government’s ability to assist state and local agencies with election administration.
The use of SAVE has also led to concerns about privacy and the accuracy of the information it produces. Organizations including the League of Women Voters and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) challenged the modified system in court. They argued that federal law does not authorize the government to create a comprehensive database of U.S. citizens and questioned whether the available federal records could accurately establish citizenship for every voter. They also argued that federal laws can restrict how Americans’ sensitive personal information can be reused and shared.
In June, U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan blocked the modified SAVE system. She determined that the government’s collection and disclosure of certain information violated provisions of the Social Security Act, the Privacy Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. The federal government appealed, and an appeals court panel declined to temporarily stop the lower court’s ruling. The case was then brought to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court’s decision temporarily allows the federal government to use the expanded SAVE system while the broader legal dispute continues. The majority concluded that a provision of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act allows DHS to provide certain citizenship information, including Social Security information, to states. The three dissenting justices disagreed with the majority’s interpretation. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote separately that the ruling failed to adequately consider the potential harm to voters.
A major concern is the possibility of incorrect matches. SAVE has previously identified eligible citizens as potential noncitizens. In Texas, the state’s entire voter list of approximately 18 million people was checked, and the system initially flagged 2,724 voters as potential noncitizens. Of those flagged, 117 cases, or 4.2%, were referred for investigation for possible noncitizen voting. According to a September 2026 release from the Texas Secretary of State’s office, about 20% of those initially flagged were later determined to be citizens and were reinstated.
The Supreme Court’s decision allows the federal government to use the modified SAVE system for now, while the underlying lawsuit remains ongoing. The system’s effects on the upcoming midterm elections are uncertain, and federal law restricts states from systematically removing voters from registration rolls within 90 days of a federal election.
