Supreme Court Allows Use of SAVE Database for Voter Verification

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted the federal government the ability to use the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database for confirming voter eligibility. This decision seems to favor President Donald Trump after a lower court had previously blocked its application.

The ruling relates to the case of Department of Homeland Security v. League of Women Voters, and it was made on a Friday, authorizing government agencies to access this program after the DHS expanded it to include records from the Social Security Administration (SSA). This expansion allows states to conduct both bulk and individual searches.

The League of Women Voters challenged the system, claiming that it infringed upon the confidentiality protections of the Social Security Act.

A district court sided with the challengers’ plea to reject the altered SAVE program, denying the government’s request to pause that ruling while they went through the appeals process. They also dismissed an earlier request for a stay.

It’s important to note that the Supreme Court’s order isn’t a final ruling on the case; it merely provides a temporary stay to the federal government, preventing the lower court’s ruling from being enforced while the appeal is underway.

“The order below prevents the Federal Government from using the program it believes is best suited to the task,” stated the majority in an unsigned document.

The majority opinion referenced 8 U.S. Code 1373, which prohibits governmental limits on DHS obtaining immigration status information—likely giving DHS the authority to acquire SSA data.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the majority, with Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor joining her.

“The harm caused by burdening or disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the nonexistent harm that the Government experiences when it is prevented from taking an action that it likely lacks the authority to take,” Jackson argued.

In response to the ruling, DHS General Counsel James Percival shared his thoughts on social media, expressing frustration.

“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,” he tweeted.