Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow use of database to check voters’ citizenship

September 8, 2026 / 1:58 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to intervene in a lawsuit and allow the use of a controversial data system to review state voter rolls heading into the midterm elections.

In June, a federal judge ruled the Trump administration acted unlawfully when it created a centralized database, known as "Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements," or SAVE, that contains Americans' private information. U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan said the database was used by some states to incorrectly remove U.S. citizens from their voter rolls.

The system was part of President Trump's government-wide push to find proof of widespread instances of noncitizens voting in federal elections, which have largely been debunked and shown to be very rare.

Sooknanan said in her ruling that the "federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote," by attempting to implement the SAVE system. Sooknanan found that the administration violated three different federal laws by attempting to implement the SAVE system.

Over the weekend, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the Trump administration's request to…

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