Washington, Sep 9 (IANS) The Trump administration has asked the US Supreme Court to allow federal authorities to use an expanded immigration database containing Social Security records to help states verify the citizenship of registered voters, a leading newspaper reported.
The emergency request comes less than two months before the November 3 midterm elections and follows decisions by a federal judge and an appeals court preventing the administration from operating the expanded system, The Washington Post reported.
At the centre of the dispute is the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements programme, commonly known as SAVE.
State and local authorities have traditionally used SAVE to determine whether applicants for government benefits and licences possess qualifying immigration or citizenship status. Election officials have also used it in some circumstances to examine voter eligibility.
According to The Post, the administration expanded the system in May 2025 by adding Social Security Administration information and records concerning people who acquired US citizenship at birth. That allowed election authorities to conduct broader searches of their voter rolls.
President Donald Trump directed the government to develop the system through an executive order aimed at what he described as protecting the integrity of American elections.
A federal judge in Washington blocked use of the expanded database in June, finding that the administration had unlawfully combined and repurposed personal information belonging to millions of Americans, the report said.
US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan also found that some states were using inaccurate information from the system to remove American citizens from their voter rolls. She concluded that the initiative violated privacy protections contained in the Social Security Act and other federal laws.
A federal appeals court declined last week to suspend her ruling while the litigation continued, prompting the administration to approach the Supreme Court.
The Washington Post quoted Solicitor General D. John Sauer as calling the lower court’s order “indefensible” and saying it “threatens the integrity of upcoming elections”.
He argued that the injunction deprived federal and state authorities of an effective method for checking the eligibility of registered voters and applicants for government benefits.
The Supreme Court has directed the plaintiffs, led by the League of Women Voters, to respond to the administration’s request by September 15, according to the report. The justices could issue a decision shortly after receiving that response.
The challengers include naturalised American citizens who say government records continue to identify them incorrectly as noncitizens. They argue that inaccurate or outdated information could cause eligible citizens to be removed from voter lists.
–IANS
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