# Supreme Court Lets Trump Purge Voter Rolls

> Supreme Court permits Trump administration to identify noncitizen voters in state rolls.
- Title: Supreme Court Lets Trump Purge Voter Rolls · Slate Magazine
- Summary: Supreme Court permits Trump administration to identify noncitizen voters in state rolls. Supreme Court allows Trump to use expanded voter database to find…
- Keywords: supreme court, trump administration, voter purges, save database, noncitizen voting, voting rights, dhs, social security, federal law, midterms, Supreme, Court
- Source: Slate Magazine — https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/09/supreme-court-trump-republicans-voter-purge-fail.html?via=rss
- Author: Shirin Ali
- Published: 2026-09-25T21:38:39+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: supreme court, trump administration, voter purges, save database, noncitizen voting, voting rights, dhs, social security, federal law, midterms
## Supreme Court decision
The Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration can use expanded voter databases to find noncitizen voters.

> The Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration can use expanded voter databases to find noncitizen voters
## Expanded SAVE database
The SAVE database combines immigration and social security data to check voter citizenship.

> Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements
## Trump’s order
Trump signed an executive order to review state voter rolls using the expanded SAVE database.

> Trump signed an executive order to review state voter rolls using the expanded SAVE database
## Nevada case
DHS identified 16,000 suspected noncitizens in Nevada but confirmed only 185 were noncitizens.

> DHS confirmed 185 are not U.S. Citizens
## DHS claims
DHS said they manually reviewed 185 suspected noncitizens but did not share the full list.

> DHS had not had a full manual review of each one
## False positives
DHS ran 50 million voter files and flagged 10,000 potential noncitizens with low error rates.

> DHS ran close to 50 million voter files
## Justice Jackson’s dissent
Justice Jackson warned the harm to lawful voters outweighs the risk of false positives.

> The harm caused by burdening or disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the nonexistent harm
## Legal concerns
DHS violated privacy laws by haphazardly combining voter data without proper review.

> Flunked compliance with the Social Security Act, Privacy Act, and Administrative Procedure Act
## What happens next
Voters must confirm their citizenship before being removed from rolls.

> Voters need to clear up mistakes before being removed from rolls
## Unanswered questions
No mechanism to track ballots or retroactive application of the ruling.

> Is there any mechanism for voters to track their ballots?
## Key takeaway

Supreme Court allows Trump to use expanded voter database to find noncitizen voters but requires individual checks, not mass purges.