Judge halts Trump voter database over privacy, accuracy fears
USA Today reports:
By Sarah D. Wire
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from using a database of Americans’ Social Security numbers and citizenship status, saying the administration has knowingly given inaccurate data to states that are now “actively” and “haphazardly” purging purported non-citizens from voter rolls.
“The federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan wrote in a 75-page ruling. “This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens.”
The White House referred USA TODAY to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ruling in a lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters and other advocacy groups, Sooknanan, a Biden appointee, said the Trump administration’s newly modified Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system combines citizenship data and other sensitive data with information from the Social Security Administration to create a clearinghouse that Congress has expressly prohibited.
Since his second term began, President Donald Trump has made several sweeping efforts to overhaul American elections, many of which have been stymied by federal judges. For example, the administration demanded full voter rolls from dozens of states and has lost nine lawsuits against states when it tried to enforce the demand.
stated that the federal agencies were working to comply with the March 25, 2025, executive order, which instructed the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to create a system for state and local officials to verify the immigration status of registered voters or of people registering to vote.
Other key provisions of the executive order are already blocked in separate court rulings.
The order led to the overhaul of the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system, which was modified to include the records of natural-born citizens, to access Social Security information, including Social Security numbers, and to permit states and other entities with access to conduct bulk searches of records.
Sooknanan found that the newly modified system violates several privacy laws, including the Social Security Act of 1935, which prohibits the disclosure of Social Security numbers and other information and the Privacy Act of 1974, which prevents the non-consensual disclosure of certain information by and between federal agencies.
Despite concerns about the accuracy of the records in the new system, Sooknanan said, the administration shared the database with states, which used it on their rolls.
“Since then, states have run their voter rolls through the modified SAVE system, and some of the Plaintiffs’ members have been wrongfully identified as non-citizens by SAVE, resulting in the cancellation of their voter registrations,” Sooknanan wrote.
The coalition of groups associated with the lawsuit praised the ruling.
It protects “voters from being caught up in an unlawful and error-prone system that could lead to wrongful voter removals and baseless investigations,” said Joan Porte, president of the League of Women Voters of Virginia. “No one should have to worry that inaccurate records or bureaucratic mistakes could jeopardize their registration. We are grateful that the court recognized the serious dangers posed by this scheme and acted to stop it.”
By Sarah D. Wire
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from using a database of Americans’ Social Security numbers and citizenship status, saying the administration has knowingly given inaccurate data to states that are now “actively” and “haphazardly” purging purported non-citizens from voter rolls.
“The federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan wrote in a 75-page ruling. “This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens.”
The White House referred USA TODAY to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ruling in a lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters and other advocacy groups, Sooknanan, a Biden appointee, said the Trump administration’s newly modified Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system combines citizenship data and other sensitive data with information from the Social Security Administration to create a clearinghouse that Congress has expressly prohibited.
Since his second term began, President Donald Trump has made several sweeping efforts to overhaul American elections, many of which have been stymied by federal judges. For example, the administration demanded full voter rolls from dozens of states and has lost nine lawsuits against states when it tried to enforce the demand.
stated that the federal agencies were working to comply with the March 25, 2025, executive order, which instructed the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to create a system for state and local officials to verify the immigration status of registered voters or of people registering to vote.
Other key provisions of the executive order are already blocked in separate court rulings.
The order led to the overhaul of the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system, which was modified to include the records of natural-born citizens, to access Social Security information, including Social Security numbers, and to permit states and other entities with access to conduct bulk searches of records.
Sooknanan found that the newly modified system violates several privacy laws, including the Social Security Act of 1935, which prohibits the disclosure of Social Security numbers and other information and the Privacy Act of 1974, which prevents the non-consensual disclosure of certain information by and between federal agencies.
Despite concerns about the accuracy of the records in the new system, Sooknanan said, the administration shared the database with states, which used it on their rolls.
“Since then, states have run their voter rolls through the modified SAVE system, and some of the Plaintiffs’ members have been wrongfully identified as non-citizens by SAVE, resulting in the cancellation of their voter registrations,” Sooknanan wrote.
The coalition of groups associated with the lawsuit praised the ruling.
It protects “voters from being caught up in an unlawful and error-prone system that could lead to wrongful voter removals and baseless investigations,” said Joan Porte, president of the League of Women Voters of Virginia. “No one should have to worry that inaccurate records or bureaucratic mistakes could jeopardize their registration. We are grateful that the court recognized the serious dangers posed by this scheme and acted to stop it.”
