Supreme Court allows Trump administration to use SAVE database to check voter citizenship for now

September 25, 2026 / 12:02 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday sided with the Trump administration in its push to use a controversial database to review state voter rolls for potential noncitizens, pausing for now a lower court order that found that expanded system violated federal privacy laws.

In a 6-3 decision, the justices granted a request for emergency relief from the Justice Department to stay a June ruling from a judge in Washington, D.C. The judge had blocked the Department of Homeland Security's overhauled database — called the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, system — which the administration allows states and localities to use to verify citizenship and immigration status of registered voters.

U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan found that the Trump administration "knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote" through the overhauled SAVE system.

The Supreme Court said in its unsigned decision that claims from voting rights groups about the legality of the modified database "likely lack merit," and said it is likely to reverse the district court's finding that the Trump administration violated federal law with the…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/