Supreme Court clears controversial database

The Supreme Court's conservative majority overturned a lower court order blocking the Trump administration from using the SAVE database to check voter eligibility, despite documented errors.

Justice Jackson's dissent warns of harm

The three Democratic appointees argued that wrongly disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs any benefit from preventing fraud the government likely lacks authority to address.

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

SAVE database has long history of errors

Created in 1986 to verify citizenship for benefit applicants, the SAVE database was dramatically expanded by Trump in March 2025 to check voter eligibility, increasing false positive rates.

Expansion added risky new features

The revamped database now includes native-born American data, full Social Security numbers, and bulk search capabilities that dramatically increase the chance eligible voters get wrongly flagged as noncitizens.

Naturalized citizens most at risk

Naturalized citizens, newly married people with name changes, and those with mismatched documents are most likely to be wrongly tagged as noncitizens and have registrations canceled.

Missouri found 81 percent error rate

When Missouri ran its voter list through SAVE in November 2025, the database flagged 691 voters as noncitizens, but 35 percent were actually naturalized citizens and 81 percent of results were ultimately wrong.

Missouri election officials sound alarm

Seventy county clerks from both parties warned state leaders that SAVE repeatedly flags people they know are US citizens, including voters they personally registered at naturalization ceremonies.

Texas also seeing widespread errors

In Denton County, SAVE identified 84 supposed noncitizens, but twelve proved citizenship, fourteen were mistakenly registered despite marking they weren't citizens, and officials believe most others are eligible voters.

“What is bugging me is I think our voter rolls may be more accurate than this database.”

DHS made wildly false fraud claims

After claiming 15,903 noncitizens were registered in Nevada, DHS later admitted the number was actually 185, and Nevada officials confirmed it was zero.

Whistleblower alleges illegal tactics

A DHS whistleblower disclosed that immigration agents falsely posed as voters to access state databases and wrongly swept up US citizens in overzealous investigations to find noncitizen voters.

Noncitizen voting is extremely rare

Studies show noncitizen voting is incredibly rare, yet the Trump administration has enlisted hundreds of agents to search for it as part of its Unlawful Voter Initiative ahead of midterms.

Limited impact on 2026 elections

The National Voter Registration Act prevents states from removing voters ninety days before elections, so SAVE's impact on the 2026 midterms will likely be minimal.

Database fuels false fraud narratives

Even with limited election impact, the Supreme Court's decision lets the administration use SAVE to generate outrageous voter fraud claims to challenge midterm results.