Key facts
- A federal appeals court upheld a ban on using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database for voter roll accuracy checks.
- The court ruled that the SAVE system violates the Social Security Act by sharing millions of Americans' private information.
- Concerns were raised about potential inaccuracies leading to people having to prove citizenship or having their registration canceled.
- The ruling prevents the government from using the database for these checks ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
- Two judges appointed by President Barack Obama upheld the decision, while one judge appointed by President Donald Trump dissented.
A federal appeals court has upheld a ban on the Trump administration's use of a federal immigration database to verify citizenship for voter registration purposes. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in a 2-1 decision, affirmed a lower court's ruling that the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system cannot be used to check the accuracy of citizenship records on state voter rolls.
Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and U.S. Circuit Judge Robert Wilkins, both appointed by former President Barack Obama, agreed that the SAVE system violates the Social Security Act due to the sharing of private information of millions of Americans. They also expressed concerns that the system could lead to inaccurate citizen information, potentially forcing individuals to prove their citizenship or even resulting in canceled voter registrations.
U.S. Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas, an appointee of President Donald Trump, dissented from the majority opinion. The ruling comes ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, during which Republicans are defending narrow majorities in Congress. Previously, a federal judge in Florida had ordered the Department of Homeland Security to allow four Republican-led states access to the database after a nationwide block was put in place.