The U.S. Supreme Court issued a divided ruling on Friday, permitting the Trump administration to implement a new method for verifying voter eligibility.
All the liberal justices voiced their dissent regarding the ruling, which provisionally allows states to assess voters’ citizenship as the legal case unfolds.
States are allowed to utilize the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system, coordinated by the Department of Homeland Security, for these eligibility checks.
Critics of the SAVE program argue that it could lead to lawful voters being incorrectly classified as ineligible.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson sharply criticized this in a dissenting opinion, which was supported by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. She pointed out that the Court was fixating solely on the supposed harms to the government if a stay is not granted, while neglecting the negative impact the modified SAVE system is likely to inflict on lawful voters.
“The burden or disenfranchisement of even a few lawful voters is a significant harm, especially compared to the minimal impact on the government when it is barred from acting, particularly when it may not even have the authority to do so,” Jackson added.
This Supreme Court order stays a federal district judge’s ruling from June, which had blocked the expanded SAVE system on grounds of violating Americans’ privacy rights.
James Percival, the DHS General Counsel, shared his thoughts on social media, stating, “Yes, you read that right. We had to file an emergency petition in the Supreme Court just so we could use government data to help states stop noncitizens from illegally voting.”
The plaintiffs in the case, including the League of Women Voters, emphasized that their fight is not over. They plan to continue contesting the SAVE system.
“This case is not finished,” the group stated. “The district court found that the expanded SAVE program contravenes several laws. We will do everything we can to safeguard Americans’ voting and privacy rights by ensuring that the district court’s decision remains intact.”
Jackson also cautioned that states might leverage the SAVE system to “invalidate the voter registrations of some recently naturalized citizens.”
