Court lifts database restrictions

The US Supreme Court has lifted restrictions on the Trump administration using a federal database to identify voters suspected of being non-citizens, overturning a June ruling that found it illegal.

Judge had blocked the system

In June, US District Judge Sparkle L Soonnan ruled the system violated privacy rights, finding the federal government knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of US citizens in a manner that threatens the right to vote.

Supreme Court's reasoning

The conservative majority ruled that the National Voter Registration Act prohibited broad purges of voter rolls in the weeks before an election, thus limiting any potential impact ahead of the midterms.

Liberal justices dissent

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the harm of burdening eligible voters outweighs any benefit, stating the government likely lacks the authority to take such action.

“The harm caused by burdening or disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the non-existent harm that the government experiences when it is prevented from taking an action that it likely lacks the authority to take.”

What the SAVE database does

The Department of Homeland Security programme, known as Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, allows officials to verify voter eligibility. Created in nineteen eighty-six for public benefits, it was expanded last year to allow bulk searches using Social Security data.

Evidence of errors

In Travis County, Texas, officials found that of nearly one hundred voters identified as non-citizens, at least ten percent were actually US citizens. Since Texas began using the system last year, only three non-citizen voters have been charged with illegally voting.

Voting groups warn of risks

The League of Women Voters called the ruling profoundly disappointing, saying it puts millions of Americans at risk of being unlawfully targeted by the administration's unreliable voter purge database weeks before the midterm elections.

“It puts millions of Americans at risk of being unlawfully targeted by the administration's unreliable voter purge database weeks before the midterm elections.”