Key facts
- The Trump administration is pressing forward with efforts to obtain sensitive voter data ahead of the US midterm elections.
- The Department of Homeland Security plans to create lists of US citizens eligible to vote using federal government data.
- Privacy advocates argue the DHS plan violates privacy laws by collecting information on American citizens from various federal entities.
- Critics suggest the drive aims to disenfranchise eligible Democratic-leaning voters.
- The administration has lost 25 lawsuits seeking to compel states to hand over complete voter rolls.
- A Reuters review found that software glitches and clerical errors may have added over 30,000 self-declared noncitizens to voter rolls since 2000.
The Trump administration is continuing its push to obtain sensitive voter data ahead of the US midterm elections, despite facing numerous legal challenges and setbacks. Justice Department lawyers are scheduled to ask a federal judge in Maryland on Friday to not block the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from creating lists of US citizens eligible to vote. This initiative stems from an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March, directing DHS to compile these lists using federal data and share them with state election officials.
Privacy advocates argue that the DHS plan would violate privacy laws by collecting citizen information from sources like the Social Security Administration. They also contend that the SAVE database, one of the sources for these lists, has mistakenly flagged naturalized US citizens as noncitizens. Critics, including voting rights advocates, suggest the effort is aimed at disenfranchising Democratic-leaning voters rather than ensuring election security.
The administration has faced significant legal opposition, losing 25 lawsuits seeking to compel states to provide voter rolls. Trump's proposed SAVE America Act, which would have required states to check voter lists against the SAVE database, failed in the Senate. The Supreme Court also declined to allow a push to tighten mail-in voting rules.
Despite claims of widespread fraud, a Reuters review found that software glitches and clerical errors may have added over 30,000 self-declared noncitizens to voter rolls since 2000, though the number who voted is undetermined and experts consider it too small to impact elections. New Jersey reported a technology glitch added 6,600 noncitizens to its rolls, with fewer than 400 voting, and no evidence of election results being swayed. State audits and independent studies indicate voter fraud is rare, with only 129 people prosecuted for noncitizen voting since 1996.