Supreme Court allows Trump administration to use expanded database for potential voter purges

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the Trump administration to use an expanded federal database containing citizenship information, as the president encourages states to purge people from voter rolls.

The justices, divided 6-3 on ideological lines with conservatives in the majority, granted an emergency request filed by the government after lower courts ruled that the Trump administration’s changes to the database were likely unlawful.

Critics have said the data is unreliable and could lead to U.S. citizens being kicked off the voter rolls.

But the court noted in its unsigned ruling that the National Voter Registration Act bars the broad purging of voter rolls in the weeks leading up to an election, which “limits the potential impact” of the decision this year. States can still make individualized queries about voters.

On the broader legal questions raised in the case, the court said that federal law requires the government to respond to requests from states for information about citizenship.

The lower court injunction “prevents the federal government from using the program it believes is best suited to the task,” the court said.

The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, known as SAVE, was originally set up by Congress in…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports